Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent
[Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 and Matthew 5:17-19]For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? [Deuteronomy] Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. [Matthew]
Every parent is familiar with the "Why?" of a child? It turns into the familiar, "Go ask your mother/father!" When it comes to religious practices or beliefs, the parents will often say, "When we go to church this Sunday, you can ask Father that question!" - perhaps hoping that "question" will have been forgotten by then. However, the question is very useful and goes directly to the heart of what is at stake in the scriptures today! It is the question of the relationship between religious identity/belief and religious practice! When the Tridentine Latin Mass was removed from popular use after the Second Vatican Council, there were many who believed that their religious identity was taken from them by the removal of a religious practice. (The Church had existed 1500 years before that Mass was designed, but history tends to take a back seat in these discussions.) When fish-on-Friday became optional for the average Catholic, other Catholics felt that their faith had been taken from them, even though there was no reason why they couldn't continue the practice personally. What these reactions point to is the shared identity symbolized in the shared practice, no matter what the practice might be! The concern of the community represented in the Gospel of Matthew involved the role of the Mosaic Law in the new community of faith. How would the way of life be impacted for Jews who had accepted Jesus? When St. Paul was converted, this whole question assumed enormous significance because he asserted that the practices of the faith had to be based on the faith itself. Did it make sense for those who had not been Jews to take on the burden of a complex dietary and ritual life when the central truths concerned the death and resurrection of Jesus? The "Why?" of the Jewish child at the Seder Meal invokes the history of the Exodus. The "Why?" of the Catholic child tends to invoke the exasperated puzzlement of the Catholic parent! Sometimes the response is, "Because that's what Catholics do!" or maybe a quick call to the parish secretary. Why do Catholics dip their fingers in a bowl of water at the door of the Church and make the sign of the cross? Why do Catholics believe that abortion and pre-marital sex are wrong? Why do Catholics believe that you HAVE to go to Mass on Sunday? Why do Catholics have statues, candles, incense, stained glass windows with saints in them, funny vestments, etc. etc.. We are not Catholics BECAUSE we do these things. We do these things because we ARE Catholics. The identity is what matters ultimately, but the practices can become so identified with the belief that any change becomes traumatic. It doesn't have to be a matter of the creed. When Pope John Paul II added five more mysteries to the Rosary, it's a wonder he wasn't picketed! Looking closely at what we DO because we ARE Catholics can be a window to a deepening of our faith (and occasionally a source of amusement as well) and perhaps a greater understanding of the "Why?" of being Catholic. AMEN
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