Homily Twenty-Eighth Friday of Ordinary Time (Luke: 12:1-7) “Spiritual not Religious?”
Homily Twenty-Eighth Friday of Ordinary Time (Luke: 12:1-7) “Spiritual not Religious?”
A few years ago, there was a novelty item that a lot of people purchased. It was a plastic wrist band. On the plastic band were the letters: WWJD. Of course, these letters stood for, “What would Jesus do?” If we believed Jesus was watching us all the time and was interested in everything that we do how would that change our behavior?
Usually, we like to compartmentalize our life. Perhaps it is the difference between being religious and being spiritual. We might have heard someone say at one time, “He is such a hypocrite. He receives communion on Sunday and then he runs a dishonest business during the week.” Such a person might feel like fulfilling religious obligations is the all-important thing.
When I was a young, I remember people saying, “Well, I am religious, but I am not spiritual.” What that meant was that the person attended Mass on Sunday and did their Easter duty, gave a donation to the church, etc. but would not pray privately or engage in any other spiritual practice. By saying this, the person in question felt that their life with God was in order. They wanted to do the minimum to get by.
Today, it is interesting, that people choose to say just the opposite in order to justify their faith lives. We have all heard people say, “I am spiritual, but not religious. They claim to explore spiritual pursuits in their lives, but steer away from committing to a church.
Really, both ideas are hypocritical and show a lack of understanding as to what it means to be either religious or spiritual. It is hard to have a strong relationship with God unless we try to be both religious and spiritual.
Jesus says in the Gospel, today that God sees all. God is interested in our lives. If we feel like we have an honest relationship with God, this can be comforting. If we feel like we are being deceptive with God than this can be disconcerting.
Reflection Questions:
- When I sin do I feel like God really is not paying attention? If I stop and ask what God would want me to do does that change my behavior?
- Do I describe myself as either spiritual or religious when people ask about my faith life? Does it make a difference?
Dear Parishioners,
We have moved our time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation back to where it was before the pandemic hit. It is from 3-3:45 on Saturday afternoon. We ask that people enter the church from the East door (the door by the Blessed Virgin Mary Statue). Please sit either in the chairs provided in the music area or in the first few pews. We would also ask that people exit by the East door. We do this because the doors open for the afternoon Mass at 3:30 p.m. and because we do not have time to sterilize the pews before the Mass begins. If we confine seating to the front pews this does not necessitate cleaning the whole church. Please sit six feet apart form people who do not live in your household.
We will try to keep a window cracked in the confessional so that we can keep air moving. And we ask that you wear masks. As we move deeper into the winter, we may expand our reconciliation hours on Saturday to accommodate more penitents.
May the Our Lady and all the Angeles and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark