+- Luckymodena (http://lucky.myftp.org:8181/forum)
+-- Forum: Life Voyage : Life, experience and sharing (/forumdisplay.php?fid=10)
+--- Forum: Scripture readings (/forumdisplay.php?fid=12)
+--- Thread: OVER-RELIANCE ON EXTERNALS OF RELIGION (/showthread.php?tid=1554)
OVER-RELIANCE ON EXTERNALS OF RELIGION - stephenkhoo - 01-12-2012 11:53 AM
Scripture Reflections
Thursday, 12 January, 2012, 1st Week, Ordinary Time
OVER-RELIANCE ON EXTERNALS OF RELIGION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1SM 4:1-11; MK 1:40-45
In every religion, there is a need for a material expression of the faith. There is no religion that does not need some form of sacramentals, that is, signs to help people to grasp their faith or put them into contact with God. This is because we are not pure spirit but an embodied spirit. It is for this same reason that the way God chose to save us and reconcile with us is by an incarnational way. Hence, the Second Person of the Trinity became man, assuming our humanity so that we can see God in and through Him. God knows that we need to see, feel and touch so that we can experience His love, presence and mercy.
In this context, we can appreciate why the Israelites had such great devotion to the Ark of the Covenant. We cannot fault them for their great reliance on the Ark of the Covenant for all that they did, especially during warfare. The Ark was the primary means by which they remember how Yahweh performed miracles and works of wonder for their forefathers during the time of Moses when they were delivered from the Egyptians and when they were wondering in the desert. All through their lives, they were brought up with the tradition that God was the Lord of Host and their commander in chief in every battle. His power was always felt and manifested whenever the Ark was with them. Whenever they brought the Ark with them, they would win the battle against their enemies. So why shouldn’t they also believe that God would also help them against their new enemies, the Philistines? In fact, they thought that it was because they did not bring the Ark the first round that they lost the battle.
This desire to be touched or to touch and see is also seen in today’s gospel miracle of the healing of the leper. We read that Jesus felt sorry for the leper, and He “stretched out his hand and touched him.” And after being healed, the leper was instructed thus, “go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.” Apparently, Jesus knew that to be healed the leper needed to be touched, as lepers are deprived of touch, which is an expression of love and acceptance. Jesus went against the ritual propriety by touching the leper, making Himself unclean and also opening up the possibility of contracting the disease Himself. But Jesus’ compassion was so intense that He would break even the rituals and laws to mediate to the leper God’s acceptance of his condition. And by sending him to see the priest, it was again a very prudent move of Jesus, for the world needed external proof and certification that he was healed before he would be readmitted into the community.
Hence, it is undoubtedly clear that we cannot disdain externals in religion, whether in the use of symbols, rituals, gestures or sacramentals. But there is also a danger that we might be so focused on the externals that we forget the reality that stands behind the expression of faith. When that happens, we fall into superstitions or routine, so much so that what we do no longer truly help us to be in communion with God. We fall into error, believing that the things in themselves save us, rather than the power that stands behind the things we use that is the cause of our salvation. This can lead to idolatry, worshipping the thing rather than God, which is symbolized and mediated by the symbol used to represent Him.
We must apprehend the externals of religion in perspective. Whilst the externals are necessary and important, we cannot remain on this level of faith. Despite how sacred and powerful the Ark might be, or the immense power of the Eucharist, or how great the touch of the hand of the healer, or the shadow of St Peter that healed them (Acts 5:15) or the healing properties of those handkerchiefs and aprons that touched St Paul (Acts 19:12), or the intercession our Lady’s statue, etc, the scriptures insist upon the necessity of faith. Not faith in the thing or the medium of healing itself, but in the person behind the healing power. Such sacramentals are means by which we are connected with God. It is God who is the healer, not anyone else and of course, not the very object itself. The external objects are meant to facilitate our communion with God. Our minds, our hearts, where silence and love prevail, are where the Ark of the Covenant or the Eucharist truly is. When we are conscious of His presence and love, when we are available to Him entirely and when we are focused on Him, God is present in us. He makes His sanctuary in our hearts. He is the Emmanuel. He comes to dwell not only as man but in every man and woman.
It is because of such superstitious attitude towards the externals of religion that many do not grow in their faith. Their over reliance on externals indicates that their faith is still infantile. True faith is to believe in Jesus who can heal, either by touching us from afar, as in the case of the Centurion who said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Lk 7:7) This accounts for Jesus’ explicit instruction to the leper after he was healed, “Mind you say nothing to anyone”, because He did not want people to come to Him simply for healing and forget about the God who heals. He wants to teach the people about His Father, understanding His love and mercy, the need to put their lives in order so that when they are healed, the effects of the healing grace remains. He was aware that if people were simply impressed by pomposity and wonders, their faith would remain shallow and immature as it is not founded on a personal relationship with the Lord. Such kind of faith is risky as it cannot withstand trials and sufferings, since it only looks for comfort and miracles.
Today, the first reading is intended to awaken us that God sometimes allow such kind of infantile or superstitious faith to collapse so that we come to know the deeper reality. In the first reading, the Israelites’ failure to go beyond externals resulted not only in the loss of their battle with the Philistines but their Ark as well. It must have been such a great shock to them, that possessing the Ark in itself did not protect them from harm or won the victory for them. Something else is needed and not the Ark alone. Similarly too, just simple reliance on religious objects and rituals might work at times, but there will be times when those sacramentals do not display their power and have no effects at all. This is then a challenge from God to go deeper into oneself, into our hearts to see where our faith lies. Is it in a God who is all love and power or in things and externals?
Finally, there is another reminder with regard to a proper catechesis of those under our care with respect to their faith. The first reading warns us that quite often, Church leaders, priests and lay teachers are often the cause of superstitious practices in the way our laity practice their faith. Elis’ two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were responsible for the loss of the battle and the Ark. They were not faithful to their priestly ministry, for they were reserving the best part of the people’s sacrifices for themselves and offering to God only the inferior parts. By not giving God the best and the most important place in their lives, they lost their moral and spiritual authority. More often than not, it is because of the scandalous and sinful lives of Church leaders, religious or lay, that cause our people to lose faith and become superstitious. Instead of leading them to a personal knowledge and love of the Lord, we mislead them into a lax way of life and promote all false forms of religion, especially those pertaining to the New Age Movement where faith is in some external natural elements, in nature or in the depths of oneself rather than faith in the one and only Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.