Tuesday
of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
August 26, 2014 8:30am
Sometimes today we hear people
say: “I am spiritual, but not religious.”
I believe these are good and
sincere people and they may be very spiritual.
And I also believe that there is
significant risk in what they are doing and espousing.
They may very much want to be
spiritual persons.
But being spiritual without
affiliation with others can lead us to be very narrow in our perspective and maybe
even self-absorbed.
I am not saying that everyone who
says “I am spiritual but not religious” is
that way.
But it is a significant risk.
We need affiliation, and that
means we need church or religion to connect us with others, to broaden and
refine our perspective, and to keep us open to God and to others.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is
concerned with the opposite problem.
He is concerned about people who
are religious but not really spiritual.
They are observing the practices
and even details of religion, but not living the spirit of it.
In fact, they have missed the inner
spirit, the values underneath the rubrics and traditions and commandments.
They have become, without knowing
it, narrow in their perspective and even self-absorbed.
They need to breathe in the real
purpose of religion and of church – to connect us with others, saint and
sinner, to broaden and refine our perspective, and to keep us open to God.
That is the real purpose of
religion.
If we keep that in mind, we will
not end up being religious but not spiritual.
Instead, we will be religious because
we are spiritual.
