One tension we live with as Catholics is holding onto the faith as explained by scripture and tradition while at the same time being open to the new thing God is doing. This was an issue in the ministry of Jesus. He challenged his contemporaries: You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them. Looking solely at the traditions they inherited they missed the presence of God in their midst with the coming of Jesus. God continues to challenge believers to deepen our understanding of how to practice divine compassion in the world. For example, the doctrine of the church condemning slavery developed over centuries. We must judge today’s contentious moral dilemmas in light of God’s mercy as well.
