Readings: 1 Kings 19:19-21; Psalm 15; Matthew 5:33-37
Communicatio facit civitatem is a memorable phrase in the writings of Thomas Aquinas, 'communication builds the city'. It is in his commentary on Aristotle's Politics, near the beginning, where Aristotle argues that it is in the capacity for language that the human being is clearly raised above the other animals. We can grunt and groan as the other animals do but we have the capacity, which they do not according to Aristotle, to treat, and decide about, matters of justice and injustice. We can be held responsible in such matters in ways that animals are not. That responsibility is linked with our capacity for language: moral responsibility, freedom of choice, understanding, real initiative and creativity - and language - these are distinctively human abilities and activities.
It comes to mind today thinking about the readings we have at Mass as well as the current situation in the world.
On one hand the readings - let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Be transparent, straightforward, honest, coherent. That's Jesus in the gospel reading. Elijah seems to be impatient with Elisha's hesitation, wanting to qualify his response to Elijah's call by a visit to his parents. It anticipates comments of Jesus later in the gospel: respond immediately, no turning back or turning aside. No spin then, no need for swearing, no being economical with the truth, no being clever in twisting things to mislead or deceive.
We are still in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presenting the ethics of the kingdom that is coming. So we might be tempted to say that his teaching is fine for his ideal world but in the real world, well things are obviously more complicated. So too for Elijah - he is a bit of a fanatic anyway, isn't he, to be taken with more than a grain of salt.
All will be brought into the light, Jesus says elsewhere, and our confidence is that it will not be the light of mockers and jeerers, of cruel and merciless enemies, of the father of lies whose light is closer to darkness, but a warm and embracing light, a light that is penetrating and complete but also loving and merciful. 'Yes, I did that'. 'No, I did not'. 'I do not think so.' 'I am sorry'. 'I was wrong'. 'It is what I believe, and know, and want'. 'I love you'.
Meanwhile back in the 'real world' we have increasing violence, deepening polarisation, growing anxiety. What is true and what is false? What is accurate and objective and what is invented to stir up my fears and anxieties, to activate my prejudices and self-interest? We hear of 'fake news' and 'false facts', we are bombarded with images and opinions, we are preached at by moralists and commentators, told what we should think about this or that event, of this or that person.
The rise of social media opens the door to the proliferation of conspiracy theories. An unhappy archbishop writes that the growing polarisation is apocalyptic, presaging a great battle between a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. The next step is to start pointing out who belongs to each kingdom and then we are in real trouble. There is, it is claimed, a 'deep state' and a 'deep church'. What can it mean? The ground on which we think we are standing dissolves beneath our feet, that awful sensation produced by an earth tremor when what was solid becomes liquid, the ground melts, the walls move, what seemed reliable might turn out to have been a pack of lies
Who is to be trusted in a world whose politics seems to take mistrust as its first principle?
A short homily - at least in its conception - now raises questions that seem too big. Perhaps it serves some good in naming a confusion and uncertainty that others will be experiencing. Where are we? Where are we going? Who is really pulling the levers? Where are the centres of power? What is true and reliable in all that is going on?
Communicatio facit civitatem, communication builds the city. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Talking - and first listening - to each other. Encouraging places of open conversation, if necessary seeking to establish such places. Easy to say, not so easy to do. Something along these lines has to be a better starting-point. But how to build trust when language loses all purchase on truth?
In an earlier 'cold war' moment one observer proposed that world leaders should meet naked whenever they met, to remind themselves of the fragility and vulnerability of the human creatures whose lives they were playing with. The virus could have done that for us, brought home our common vulnerability, across all races and colours, creeds and cultures, even across political divisions. Instead it seems to have heightened tensions and deepened divisions, its light cruel and merciless, exposing inequalities and failures all too clearly. It has shaken the foundations.
Perhaps it is too late for 'project humanity' as the apocalyptically inclined say (and perhaps hope!). Perhaps it is not too late. Perhaps trust can be built again from the ground up, with honest conversation in friendships, families and other smaller groups. Where yes is yes, and no is no. Where a community can still be established through communication. Where a moral strength might yet be established that would counteract and contain the inevitable abuses of power.
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