One of the things which never ceases to amaze me is the number of sincere Christians who are down on what they call "religion." This is especially true for the non-practicing Christians, which is not surprising; they may or may not think that their faith is particularly important, but they evidently do not see it as a thing which ought to be joined to community in any way. Some simply don't like the sacrifice involved in going to church on Sunday, however small that sacrifice of time may be; for those Christians who do want to be good followers of Christ and yet who dread going to church, I can do little more than suggest a reflection on Matthew 16:24.
Oh, but there are plenty of sincere Christians who do attend some sort of church services and yet who decry "religion" with all it obligations: the rituals, the morality. I've known plenty of Protestants who complain about the rituals (and often the morality), and more than a few Catholics who bemoan the morality (and sometimes the rituals). "Why can't we just have a relationship with God?" they ask, though not in so many words. They are quick to set up a dichotomy: there are those who have religion, and those who have a true "personal" relationship with God. As one Protestant commentator put it, "When you are ready to do 'business' with an Almighty Sinless Creator God and you 'break your vows' with your religion, then, and only then will you be open-minded to the truth contained in the scriptures!"
The problem is, religion and a relationship with God is not an either-or proposition: it's a both-and. That is to say, a right relationship with God will involve religion, including the rituals and the morality (not to mention the theology!). That's not to say that the rituals and morality and theology are the sum total of a religion, but they are are important components of it. When asked what was the greatest commandment of the Law, our LORD replied that
|
Quote:
"The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:29-32).
|
Of equal interest is that when the Scribe who had addressed our LORD replied that he did in fact keep these commandments, Jesus replied that "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34). But the morality is nothing other than right relationships between a man and himself, others, and God; the ritual is nothing other than a form of worship of God; and the theology is nothing more nor less than the "science" (that is, the understanding, the contemplation) of God and His Church. In short, these two greatest commandments, which are the sum of the whole law and which when followed place us "not far from the kingdom of God" are also the very basis of religion.
Much of the ritualism and morality of religion is established in the Old Testament as a part of the Old Law. It was revealed gradually to the Jews through Moses and the prophets (to say nothing of Noah and of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and they diligently observed these rituals to the day of Christ's coming. For His part, our LORD did not abolish religious practices: though He condemns the pharisees for their hard-heartedness and for their pride and insincerity (see, for example, Matthew 23:4-7), He also commands His followers to be obedient to them (for example, Matthew 23:2-3). Moreover, Christ states that
|
Quote:
"Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20).
|
Moreover, the Apostles and their followers continued to worship with the Jews in the Temple (and the synagogues) after the Resurrection (see Acts 2:46-3:1 fore example). This behavior is hardly befitting a group who believed that religion and religious ritual got in the way of a relationship with God. Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that
|
Quote:
'The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer and fasting, directing them to the "Father who sees in secret," in contrast with the desire to "be seen by men." Its prayer is the Our Father....Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy' (CCC Paragraphs 1969 and 2096).
|
Many of those who talk down on religion attempt to score cheap emotional points by appeals to their own interpretations of the origins of the word itself: and these are obscure origins. Perhaps it does come from Cicero's re-legos (to re-read): more loosely, to study and contemplate and commit to heart. Indeed, to do this with the Scriptures, with the historic Creeds, with the beautiful prayers composed over 2000 years of Christianity and another 1000 years of Judaism--this can hardly mean to ignore a relationship with God. To contend that this is so is to contend that God does not speak to us through any of these things, a fit stance for an atheist but hardly for a Christian! Do not the Scriptures contain the very words spoken by Christ and recorded for us by His apostles and other early disciples? Do not he creeds further clarify Who He Is? Does not Tradition--both written and oral--which has been preserved for us the truth revealed to us by our Lord to His apostles, both in His earthly life and through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit? It was Saint Jerome who told us that the ignorance of Scripture was the ignorance of Christ: which is hardly the basis of a stable relationship with Him!
Perhaps instead it comes from re-ligare, that is, "to bind again." This certainly lends itself to cheap jokes about religion being a mere "return to bondage," but then, why not be bound to that which is holy? The oath of an honest man is binding in that he who gives it binds himself to him to whom it is given. Religion is a sort of oath to God, by which we bind ourselves to Him; which is vastly different from saying that we place ourselves in bondage. Indeed, it is only by binding ourselves to God that we are able to become free of bondage to sin (see Romans 6:6). To use an analogy, Ulysses bound himself to the mast of his ship so that he would not be lured away by the temptations of the sirens' call, and so lose his life; we in turn bind ourselves to Christ so that we will not be lured by temptations to sin, and so lose ourselves. Ulyssess' act of binding himself guaranteed his safety and ultimately his freedom: and our act of binding ourselves to Christ allows us to do the same*.
Moreover, to "bind again" is an especially fitting definition of religion, because our first parents loosed their binds with God--they "cut ties" with Him--by sinning in the garden. Thus, religion is our attempt to restore those ties with God--or, more appropriately, it is His way of restoring that bond with us. Yes, we need a relationship with the LORD our God, but we need that on His terms, and not only on our own. And His terms are, in the end, religious terms. Religion, then, is ultimately no more and no less than right relationship with God, and also with men for His sake. It does not impede the relationship with God, nor does it hinder our ability to "do business with" Him; rather, it enhances this relationship because it places the relationship in the context established by God through His divine revelation.
-----
*Of course, Ulysses wanted to hear the sirens' song, whereas we want to be free of it at last; and we are not driven to insanity by it, though, St Paul does warn us that we may be made to appear as fools for the sake of true wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:1-16).
_____
Originally posted on my
Equus Nom Veritas blog.
Tags: Catechesis Religion Why-Catholicism
