The latest and the greatest

Many people are interested in always getting the latest whatever: the newest technology, the latest diet plan, or – best of all – the Next Big Thing.

Some say this is a characteristic peculiar to our modern age, but it has always been so. In today’s first reading, we hear St. Paul the Apostle admonishing the ancient Galatians who were then being tempted by the “latest and greatest” religious philosophy.

Experience teaches that the latest is not always the greatest and that reality does not always match the hype.

In the case of religion, this is even more so, because mankind’s latest and greatest encounter with the Divine took place two thousand years ago.

To be sure, God is present to us here and now, through the work of the Holy Spirit, through the sacraments, and other ways, but the Incarnation, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the definitive communication of God to all of us. That is the moment of our salvation: when God entered into our history and became one of us.

There is still room for innovation, still room for understanding the mystery of Christ even better, but we cannot break the connection to the definitive event of salvation, thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away. Any new insights or understandings we may have must be consistent with the Gospel, the deposit of faith we have received from Christ through the Apostles he chose.

What we believe is not something made up: it happened. No matter how smart we may be or how many people may agree, if we break the connection to the historical Christ, we have lost the truth and the meaning of what we believe.

New is good, but Christ is best.

But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!

....I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being,
nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.