So, how does one apply the concept of oeconomia? As we used to say, that is where the rubber meets the road.”
Among us, it is the bishops who ultimately apply the concept of oeconomia, sometimes acting alone and sometimes in concert. Even when a priest, deacon, or layperson applies the concept of oeconomia, he or she applies it in the name of the bishop.
But, we have a two-edged sword of a problem in this culture. On the one hand, we are a culture that has come to prioritize individual autonomy so highly that we have problems with the idea that we should obey anyone. This is coming close to destroying even the secular idea of a social contract. What is the social contract theory of government? It is the theory upon which the United States of America was founded. To wit:
The fundamental basis for government and law in this system is the concept of the social contract, according to which human beings begin as individuals in a state of nature, and create a society by establishing a contract whereby they agree to live together in harmony for their mutual benefit, after which they are said to live in a state of society. This contract involves the retaining of certain natural rights, an acceptance of restrictions of certain liberties, the assumption of certain duties, and the pooling of certain powers to be exercised collectively. Such pooled powers are generally exercised by delegating them to some members of the society to act as agents for the members of the society as a whole, and to do so within a framework of structure and procedures that is a government. No such government may exercise any powers not thus delegated to it, or do so in a way that is not consistent with established structures or procedures defined by a basic law which is called the constitution.
We are having serious problems in the USA with the idea of pooled powers. That is, cultural pressure is mounting more and more toward the idea expressed in the 1960’s that I can do anything as long as it does not hurt someone else. Thus, the idea that bishops have authority to speak into our lives and to make certain decisions involving our lives, which we are then expected to follow, runs deeply against the grain of current culture. On top of that, the bishops claim not pooled authority, but rather divine authority. This can cause any citizen here to have a stroke.
On the other hand, our debates over social contract in the last few decades have been particularly heated in the area of rules. So our debates over the rule of law have been incessant. Those debates have split us into two parties, one that wishes to apply a secular version of oeconomia to almost any matter at any time, and gives to judges the place of bishops. And, those judges are urged to make decisions as though they functioned under the secular version of divine authority rather than under a social contract which the community has approved. The other party has reacted by desiring to impose a rule of law equivalent to that of the Pharisees. That is, the law is the law, and no one has the right to make any adjustments, even when the law says they can. Not only is every minutea of the law scanned to make sure that it is not somehow being broken, but laws written for one purpose are applied for another. One example has been the misuse of racketeering laws against groups trying to exercise their rights to peaceful demonstrations. The courts have rightfully ruled against that misuse of law. Unfortunately, we have those same two factions within the Church, trying to force the canons to be applied according to their viewpoint on the rule of law.
And in the midst of it all is the bishop and his priests trying to follow the Orthodox idea that the law (canons, rules, etc.) must be applied in the same way that Jesus applied them. Sometimes he was harsh, as when he made the whip and drove out the moneychangers, and sometimes he applied them in such a way that “a bruised reed would not be broken.” So, to apply them as Jesus would, we must do so with the idea in mind that we also do not wish to break the bruised reed nor do we wish to be easy on the pharisee. So, pray for your bishops and his priests, that in the midst of a culture that is trying to tear apart the Church (not necessarily deliberately, but by its worldview) they may be able to persevere and express the love of God in an appropriate way.
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