Pope Francis recently encouraged a group of young Russians to be “bridge builders.” I think this is something we all need to think about.

Before I entered seminary, I literally helped build bridges. I worked for the New York State Department of Transportation as an engineer on projects designing, building, and reconstructing bridges. The bridges we built made it possible to cross from one side of a divide to another. Sometimes it was a small creek. In these cases it may have been possible to cross the creek, when the water was low, without a bridge. The bridge made it easier to cross the creek. There was one bridge I worked on that was over a gorge. The bottom of the gorge was 90 feet below the road surface and probably around 40-80 feet wide (I remember the exact height from the fear of falling. The width didn’t matter.). It would have been impossible to cross this gorge without a bridge.

Of course, my purpose here is not talking about physical bridges nor was it what Pope Francis was referring to. The world is full of people of varying faiths and ideologies. Sometimes the divisions between ideologies are small. In these cases we just need a small bridge based on some commonalities.

However, sometimes the divisions are huge. It is unfortunate that we live in a world of increasing polarization. The distance between the two sides is increasing. It can seem insurmountable to bring the two sides together in genuine dialogue. When we add relativism to the equation where there is no universal truth so each side is sure they are right, it might seem impossible to bring the two sides together.

Nothing is impossible for God.

Perhaps these divisions are most evident in secular politics. Unfortunately, we see the divisions even within our Catholic Church. There are those who wish to embrace worldly ways rather than embrace Jesus as the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6).

We need a bridge between the secular world that has embraced relativism where there is no universal truth and our faith that holds fast to the Truth that comes from God. Relativists seek to free themselves by saying there is no truth. In faith, we know that it is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32).

When the average person drives over a bridge, you see the road surface, generally a concrete deck. However, the bridge is much more than just the concrete deck you see. The concrete deck needs something to hold it up. This is generally steel or concrete beams.

In dialogue between secular society and our Catholic faith, the concrete deck is the immediate idea in conflict. The beams are the idea(s) that form the immediate idea.

Together the concrete deck and beams are called the “superstructure” of the bridge. The superstructure cannot stand on its own. It needs a substructure to hold it up and secure it in place. In a physical bridge, the substructure are the walls (generally concrete) upon which the superstructure rests. The substructure is designed to help hold the superstructure in place in the event of an earthquake or major flooding. Without a substructure, the bridge would wash away in a big storm.

The walls may be likened to our “belief” system. It is the basic ideas we may take for granted. As true Christian disciples this involves our faith. For secular society, in the past logic and common sense would have been important here. Also important would be observing and following the natural order of things that we observe in nature. You will have to ask the relativists what they use to form their belief system.

The walls are not the bottom of the bridge. Also part of the substructure, underneath the walls are concrete footers. The footer is secured to the earth below by piles driven into the ground or a keyway if the footer rests on solid rock. What is our foundation in faith?

Jesus speaks of our need for a solid foundation in Matthew 7:24-27 (cf. Luke 6:46-49). Jesus also says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Matthew 21:42, cf. Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17).

Jesus is our foundation. He is the cornerstone on which we build our faith. Without Jesus as our foundation and cornerstone, society will collapse. Modern western civilization had Christianity in its roots and as its foundation. Now, it is removing Christianity from its equation. Without Christianity, it is collapsing. Without Christianity we see more violence. We see more polarization and division. We see the loss of the value of life. I fear left to its own ways, secular society will collapse.

Is there hope? There is always hope when we have Jesus Christ as our foundation.

We need bridge builders. We need people who can help dialogue about ideas like what our faith says about what it means to be male and female. We need people who can speak about the dignity of life as created in God’s image. But first, we need people who can speak and demonstrate what it means to have Jesus as our foundation.

Does the way you live your life show that Jesus is your foundation?

Does the way you live your life show your faith is part of your whole life or that is it just one little piece off in a corner?

Is God your foundation, walls, beams, and concrete deck? Ask God to help you to know how to share our Catholic teaching in a way that brings everyone together. Ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what to say to build bridges for others to come to believe and understand.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff