True Worship, True Religion

 

Deacon Dave · More Than Going Through the Motions

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 8, 2024. Gospel of St. Mark 7:1-23. Theme: True Worship, True Religion 

 I grew up in an immigrant Italian family still very much tied to the culture of the Old Country, as some of my elders used to say. Now, as far as food went this was awesome, but as far as religion goes, well…it meant there was real estrangement from the institutional Church. This was an attitude that was imported from their anti-clerical homeland. We never went to Mass or to the sacraments, but we did observe some external religious customs. However, I would have to admit that like the Pharisees in today's Gospel, these traditions were devoid of any real interior heart-felt devotion. But here’s the real odd thing: I would quickly get a salami sandwich slapped right out of hands on a Friday, accompanied by the reminder that “we Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays!” And when I asked why… the reply was always “because that’s just what we do.” Do you see what’s wrong with this picture? 

 Well, Jesus tells us what’s wrong with it in today’s gospel. It's going through the motions without knowing why. It’s religion based on rules and not on relationships of the heart. It’s observing external rituals without them being an expression of an interior communion with God. In other words, it’s hollow, it's an empty show. Jesus is strongly warning us in our Gospel reading that this approach to religion has absolutely no power to transform, to change, to save the human person. Instead, it misleads us into thinking that we are devout and good simply because we obey the rules and follow the customs. It blinds us to the real and ultimate purpose of Christianity which is conversion of life, changing the ways we think, speak and act so that we become more like Jesus. 

 Just going through the motions of external religion cannot produce saints, let alone good Christians. It’s unable to empower us to forgive those who hurt us. It fails to motivate us to serve the desperate needs of the hungry, the poor, the sick and the lonely. External religion eventually becomes meaningless and boring and routine and those who practice it soon become disillusioned. God becomes disconnected from their lives because, well in all honesty, he was never truly welcome there in a serious way in the first place. Simply following rules and observing rituals will not lead us to Heaven, but only to other place to be quite honest…and the danger of it is that it can fool us all along the way into thinking that we are doing just fine. 

 As Christians who belong to a Church that has always placed great emphasis upon ritual and rules we all have to be careful to avoid the trap of falling into this kind of approach to religion. The number one way to insure against it is by first of all nurturing a personal relationship with God through “prayer of the heart”, which means speaking honestly and openly with him about our lives and hopes, our joys and struggles. And when we do engage in formal liturgical worship, we need to be careful that we are not just “going through the motions” unaware of what our rituals mean and why we do them. Otherwise the Mass can become just an empty show. So, let’s take a quick look at some of the things we say and do every week during Sunday Mass and consider what they really mean so that they will not simply be memorized words and routine actions. 

• When we enter the church the first thing we usually do is dip our fingers in holy water…this connects us with our baptism and reminds us of the baptismal promises to reject Satan and sin and live for God above all else. We then begin the Liturgy with the Sign of the Cross. This classic Catholic ritual is a profession of faith using body language in addition to words. It means that we believe that God is a Holy Trinity of Persons and that salvation comes only through the Cross & Resurrection of Christ. 
•  Then at the Penitential Rite we recite the Kyrie three times…This is an ancient litany of repentance that we say three times in honor of the Trinity and when done with true sorrow it forgives our everyday sins and purifies our hearts to worship God and to receive Holy Communion. 
• During the Liturgy of the Word, we listen and respond to several Bible readings...our response of "Thanks be to God" means "Thank you, Lord, for speaking to us and teaching us." The readings will mean so much more to us and our responses will be so much more genuine, if we take the time to review the readings before Sunday Mass to learn about them before hearing them. 
• When it’s time for the Gospel we stand up, we sing and we mark ourselves with a small Sign of the Cross on our forehead. lips and heart…We rise up out of respect for the Gospel as the most important part of the Liturgy of the Word because it is Jesus speaking to us. Blessing ourselves symbolizes that we desire to think like Jesus, to speak like Jesus and to love like Jesus. 
• And then during the part of the Creed that mentions Jesus becoming human, born of Mary we bow our heads…This is a ritual action of praise and worship to God the Son who loved us so much that he gave up the glory and power of Heaven to become one of us and so we bow in adoration and thanksgiving. 
• At the Offertory, we put money in the basket for the works of mercy…It’s a symbol of our thanksgiving to God for his many blessings, of gratitude for the jobs we have that allow us to earn it and to give it; it’s our opportunity to share what have received for the relief of the sufferings of others. 
• After the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) we kneel down... The great mystery of the Holy Spirit coming among us to transform the gifts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ is about to take place and so we humble ourselves in the Divine Presence of this Sacred Action. 
• At the Sign of Peace we turn to those around us...this is an ancient part of the Liturgy which is our way of showing that we meant what we just prayed in the Our Father..."forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." It is not at all a time for social greetings but rather an opportunity to show reconciliation and unity with others. 
• When we go up to receive Holy Communion, we bow before the consecrated Host and we affirm our belief that it is truly Jesus by saying, “Amen!” … By word and action we acknowledge the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and by receiving his Body and Blood we become living tabernacles of the Risen Lord. 
• And finally at the end of Mass we are blessed and then dismissed with words of mission…We are officially sent out by Christ, through his ministers, to live as missionary disciples who glorify the Lord by the way we live our lives and who announce the Gospel by our words and behavior. This means that we are sent out to invite others to come to know Jesus, to learn his Word and to receive his promised gift of the Holy Spirit so that they, too, along with us, can know the peace and joy that comes from life lived with God. 

If we do our best to participate at Mass with this kind of awareness then we won't fall into the trap that Jesus is warning us about today. And we won't hear him say about our worship what he said to the Pharisees, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." And we will be open to growing in the pure and undefiled religion that St. James described in our second reading, a religion that is not self-focused but proves itself in caring for others in their sufferings and afflictions.