SPLIT-LEVEL CHRISTIANITY A father called his son who was reported to have been in trouble in school. The father demanded, “What is this I hear about you getting in trouble in school? I want an explanation and I want the truth.” The son responded, “Make up your mind, Dad. Want do you want — an explanation or the truth?” In the mind of the boy, the explanation and the truth are two separate, different and opposite things. We are fond of such misguided, mutually exclusive separations. Church and state: How often have we heard politicians harping on the so-called separation of Church and State when the Church speaks out against immoral politics? Body and soul: How many Catholics tend to be prudes as they see the body as the source of all evil and therefore reject anything and everything connected with the body? How many people have become slaves to passions as they dismiss the life in the Spirit? Religion and spirituality: How many people have you heard describe themselves as spiritual but not religious? What is the result of all of this? A schizophrenic spirituality. We see of no such separation in today’s First Reading. The prophet Ezra was commanded by the Lord to gather the people. Once gathered, Ezra opened up the scroll of the law of God. To it the people responded “Amen! Amen!” and they celebrated with great joy. “They celebrated with great joy.” That meant they lived the law. The law of the Lord is not meant to be just read. The Bible tells us that the “Word was made flesh.” For many of us, it is the case of “the Word was made ink” i.e., the Word of God is simply ink printed on the pages of an unopened and unlived Bible. The word religion comes from the Latin religare i.e., to bind together. Religion is never meant to be isolated from life and its varied dimensions. It should be the foundation that holds all things together. Fr. Joel O. Jason
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:21:38 +0000
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