r/CatholicUniversalism

then what about this. Think of how we often view scripture. Or even as a Catholic, the mass. “Aha”, I will say to myself, “I see this verse in a universal sense. Others don’t see it but I do. The Bible can be interpreted to see universalism!” And for me it can sometimes feel like I see something others don’t, and if it goes too far, maybe even more than the writers of the Bible saw!

But as I was thinking about Bible verses that seem to proclaim universalism, or as I ponder the sacraments (as a Catholic) in light of universalism, it sort of hit me:

If universal salvation was Gods intention from the beginning, then of course the Lord himself was teaching this, and I’d bet the apostles understood this clearly, and I’d suppose the scriptures were written to clearly speak this truth!

It’s starting to hit me that this energy and peace I feel, this joy that God will save all…could THIS be the real Good News!? Could this be what drove Paul to travel the world, and the Apostles to give all for.

In other words instead of universalism being this “new insight” we are sometimes imposing on the scriptural texts (or on the sacraments even), could it be it’s exactly what scriptures have always been trying to communicate? It just feels new because the layers of misunderstanding and bad theology (even by saints and otherwise great thinkers) have to be removed first. It was always there and always being proclaimed?!

I’ve been pondering things at mass again. And how the mass may point to universal salvation. What if the mass is trying to tell us that all will be saved? What if it’s right there in the meaning of the mass? One thing that Fr Richard Rohr has said a few times that really stuck with me is: in order to see God in everything, you first have to see God in one thing. “Pick one thing and see God there first.” That’s an aspect of Christian contemplation too. And so, in the mass, we are literally taught the Real Presence. That Christ is truly, literally , physically present, body, blood soul and divinity in The Eucharist! So here we are being taught, witnessing, communing with this presence of Christ in the bread and wine (what used to be bread and wine). Week after week, year after year. “This is my body, this is my blood.”And a well catechized Catholic truly believes this. But so often, it sort of stops there. We consume the Eucharist, and generally nothing too special happens. There is maybe a slow growth and a slow evolution, God willing, and holiness for some of us. And for others of us, it doesn’t seem like much changes. And certainly there’s no real seeing Christ outside of the Eucharist, if I’m honest. 

But now let’s think about the mass. After the consecration, what do we do? We all eat the Eucharist. I don’t think we Catholics have pondered this enough. We eat the Eucharist! You are what you eat! It’s Christ getting inside of us. And could it be that what Christ wanted us to see is that he’s already in us, as in all of us? And could Christ’s goal in instituting the Eucharist be to show us that we are all in Christ already and he is in us already? All of us (not just the ones at mass). So again, maybe the sacraments are these great reminders (anamnesis, re-member) of what’s already true?!

"We picture in our minds some great mansion in the sky. But the 'house' in the Scriptures is always a symbol for the person, or the soul, or the heart. Jesus is saying 'in my Father's heart there are many dwelling places, there is a place for everyone'."

With every homily he preaches, I become more convinced that he's low-key a universalist. I'm so here for it.