A Religious Experience

“Have any of you ever had a religious experience?” the teacher asked the class.

Confused, the children looked at each other wondering what she could have meant. Seeing their reaction, the teacher asked again, “Have any of you ever had a religious experience?”

Again, all she received was blank stares. So she went on to explain. “Having a  religious experience does not just mean seeing visions or hearing heavenly voices. We also have a religious experience when we pray, when we receive Communion or  when we feel a sense of God’s closeness to us.”

So she asked the class again, “Have any of you ever had a religious experience?” This time every hand shot up.

When we hear the words, “religious experience” do we think it means only having Mary appear to us or having a so-called “out of body” experience? Or do we understand, as the teacher tried to explain to the students, that whenever we approach God with humble faith and seek Him out with sincerity we have a religious experience? Most especially, do we understand that whenever we receive a sacrament whether it be Baptism, Communion or the Sacrament of Penance we are having a real encounter with the living God?

We have all experienced moments when we have felt especially close to God, moments when we really felt His presence in a way that filled us with peace and joy. We did not see a vision or hear a voice, but we knew in our hearts that God was really there by our side. There are other times when we knew God was directing us whether by putting an idea into our minds or bringing new clarity to our thinking. These are also religious experiences, real encounters with our Heavenly Father.

However, it is natural for us to ask, is what I am experiencing really God or are they just figments of my imagination? Is it really God’s voice I am hearing or is it wishful thinking to believe that I have been in His presence?

Today’s readings can help us to understand how we can answer those questions. Both Isaiah and Peter have real, life-changing religious experiences in the first reading and in the gospel. Though they are very different in terms of the way God appeared to both of them, they have some similarities that are important for us to understand if we are to come to a knowledge of God’s real presence in our lives.

First of all, a real encounter with God produces awe. When Isaiah sees God enthroned in the temple and angels crying out, his first instinct is to feel ashamed. Saint Peter too when he witnesses the miraculous catch of fish falls to his knees at the feet of Jesus. They realize that they are witnessing something that is literally “out of this world” and it gives them the sense of just how little they are. In the light of God’s holiness and glory, they feel acutely just how sinful they are.

Saint John of the Cross explained this phenomenon using the example of a pane of glass. When it is dark outside, a window looks clear. However, when the sun rises and light streams through the window, we start to see its imperfections. We see smudges, fingerprints and dust that are hidden when it is nighttime. Just so, when we start to turn to God, all our imperfections and sins become clearer to us in the light of His truth and goodness.

Therefore, any real encounter with God should give us not only an appreciation for His glory but a sober realization that we are small and sinful people. So if our religious practises, our attendance at Mass or our contributions to the parish are filling us with pride or if they are leading us to judge others who are not appearing to contribute as much then they are not real encounters with Jesus. On the other hand, if our prayer is leading us to a new understanding of our weakness, if our reading of Scripture points out for us where in our lives we need the grace of conversion, and if a real desire is welling within our hearts to live as Jesus lived, then we can be sure that it is God’s voice we have heard and His presence we have felt.

Finally, a real religious experience should leave us with a sense of mission, with something that we need to do to serve our Heavenly Father. In the first reading, Isaiah hears God call out from the throne, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’. Isaiah readily responds, “Here I am. Send me!” In the gospel, Jesus tells Peter not to be afraid, that now he would be a fisher of men. The same is true for so many saints down the ages. Their religious experiences left them with a desire to serve others. When Saint Francis has the vision of Jesus on the cross, he hears him say, “Go, rebuild my church.” When Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta makes her private vow to never say no to Jesus, she receives the call to serve the poorest of the poor.

The same should be true of us. When we truly experience the presence of God, it makes us want to serve Him. Just as not every religious experience is as dramatic as the ones Isaiah and Saint Peter encountered, so every call to serve God is not as radical as those received by Saint Francis and Blessed Mother Teresa. For most us all, it will be a simple mission to love others, to pray or to forgive. It may be an idea that pops into our head about a way we can put our talents to God’s service. Or it could be a desire to join a parish or diocesan ministry. Whatever it may be, if it is really our Heavenly Father whom we are experiencing, it will result in some concrete action.

God is seeking all of us out. He wants us to be assured of His love and to commit ourselves to living our baptism by serving others. We need only give Him some quiet time every day so that He can reveal Himself to us. If in that time we have a deeper sense of His glory, a humbler opinion of ourselves and a hunger to meet the needs of our neighbors, we know that we have been touched by Him and can never be the same.

Finding Beauty And Goodness

  

It is the gift of the artist not only to see possibilities but to bring them into reality. A Michelangelo sees the young David in a flawed block of marble and chisels away until we can see him as well. With what at first sound like random notes, the great composers string together melodies which stir our spirits. They are a reflection of the genius of our Creator. God not only sees in us possibilities we could never imagine, but he labors to bring that potential to fulfillment. We may see ourselves as flawed, but God sees our beauty and chisels away until others can see it as well. We may see the events of our lives as random, but God directs those events to lead us to sanctification and to inspire others.

When Jesus first meets him, Simon is a fisherman like any other tending his nets on the shore of the Lake of Tiberias. The day began as a waste since he had no catch to take to market after a night of labor. Then Jesus chooses his boat to be the one from which he will proclaim the word of God to the pressing crowd. Though Luke does not record Jesus' words for us, they were no doubt powerful enough to effect a change in Simon Peter. He is willing to obey Jesus and put out into the deep water for another go at a catch even though he knows it is too late in the day and even though his previous efforts met with nothing but futility. The miraculous catch of fish shakes Simon Peter to his core overwhelming him with fear and shame. He saw himself as a sinner and a failed fisherman. But Jesus somehow saw a man of faith cowering in that bow, a man willing to leave everything to follow him. He saw in him a leader who was able to convince his partners James and John to do the same. Jesus saw a greatness in Simon Peter that no one else could see and that no one else could bring out. And, as unlikely as it seemed at the time, it was upon the rock of this simple fisherman's faith that he would build his Church.

When Jesus first met Paul, he was hurrying on to Damascus, "still breathing murderous threats", to persecute the followers of Christ. He was full of a rageful purpose to bring to an end this new way which he saw as a threat to his people. It seemed as though nothing could stop him. The disciples knew him to be a murderer and an enemy. But Jesus saw in him one who would proclaim the good news to the Gentiles. Paul saw himself as the least of the apostles because he had persecuted the Church. But no one besides Jesus himself has been as influential in shaping the Christianity we live today. Jesus saw greatness in Paul and so appeared to him in all his risen glory to enlist him in the effort of spreading the gospel. 

We could go on and on giving examples throughout the Scriptures of the prophet Isaiah, of Mary, the virgin of Nazareth, of Mary Magdalen who stood at the foot of the cross and was the first witness to the resurrection, and of the poor widow who gave her last pennies to the temple treasury. They are all women and men who seemed unremarkable in the view of the world but who were called to greatness through faith. Scripture does not present them to us as examples of what ordinary folk can do if they just "set their mind to it". Rather they are models of the marvels God can accomplish with humble believers who are willing to entrust their lives to him. They illustrate the ability of God to see and bring out in us more than we could ever hope for or imagine.

In every instance, it begins with the encounter with Jesus. Meeting Jesus was all it took to change the course of one's life. Those who left everything to follow him heard his teaching, saw firsthand his miracles and shared a friendship with him both before and after his resurrection that is unique and unrepeatable. They are privileged witnesses to everything Jesus did and said. However that does not mean that we cannot encounter Christ and be changed by him. On the contrary, every time we read the Scriptures and celebrate the sacraments Christ makes himself present to us in the Holy Spirit in a  life-changing way. It is different from how Peter, Paul and Martha experienced Jesus, but real nonetheless. Just ask Saint Francis, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and countless others who have been called to witness to Christ many centuries after his resurrection.

We also know that the transformation that the Holy Spirit works in our lives is not instantaneous. Just as it took Michelangelo many blows of the hammer to sculpt his famous statue of David, it will take many encounters with Christ and much letting go on our part to effect our conversion. There will be times when we feel as if we are making no progress and other times when we think we are going backwards. It will often not be given to us to see where the road leads or enjoy the finished product. But I suspect that the forging forward in hope toward the unseen promise is part of the transformation itself. 

There is much comfort in knowing that God is not done with us yet. We are his handiwork, each of us a masterpiece on which he is willing to spend his time and energy. God never fails to find something beautiful in us and never grows weary of endeavoring to draw it out. We need only allow him to stop us in the middle of our journey, let him into our boat and invite him into our daily work. Then the adventure can begin.  

Rejected!

One of our basic human fears is the fear of rejection. We have such a strong need to belong and to “fit in” that we are afraid that others will ridicule us if we are different in any way from the crowd.

For that reason, all of us, at one time or another, have sacrificed our beliefs to be accepted by others. We have made believe that we agreed with others even when we didn’t. Sadly, we have also gone along with others when we knew that what they were doing was wrong. Our need to belong is so strong that, often, we would rather reject our principles and values than have others reject us.

Jesus was human in every way that we are, except for sin. Like us, He wanted to be loved and accepted by others. Like us, He wanted to belong. In fact, His desire to belong was so strong that He went so far as to take on a human nature like ours. He did not want to be rejected by others any more than we do.

However, Jesus would not sacrifice the truth in order to be accepted by others. Even when faced with rejection, He preached God’s saving love for all people. He would rather be rejected by people than water down the saving truth of the gospel.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is rejected by the people He knew best - people whom He loved. They thought they knew Him but they just couldn’t accept His teaching. In fact, they were so offended by Him that they drove Him out of town and were ready to throw Him down the side of a hill.

Jesus’ whole life was marked by rejection right up to the moment when He was crucified. However, as He does with all evil, God used the rejection of Jesus to bring about good.

First, The rejection of Jesus led to the good news being spread to other towns. The people of Nazareth drove Jesus out of their town but He just went ahead to bring healing and hope to other areas. When He was rejected by many of the religious leaders, He brought the gospel to tax collectors, prostitutes and lepers. When he was rejected by many of His fellow Jews, He reached out to Samaritans and Gentiles. Rather than allow rejection to break His confidence and steal His enthusiasm, Jesus used it to motivate Him to find those who would welcome His saving message.

This has been the story of the spread of Christianity from the beginning. When the early Church was persecuted in Jerusalem, they went out into the countryside. Eventually it spread throughout the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell, people of faith brought the gospel to the barbarians until all of Europe was evangelized. When Europe was undergoing the Protestant Reformation, missionaries reached out to the indigenous people of the Americas until they eventually embraced faith in Christ.

The same is true in our day. Christianity is roundly rejected by the elites of our society. They have all kinds of sophisticated ways of arguing that the God of Jesus Christ is a myth. If the powerful and wealthy people of our world, then, have rejected us, we will reach out to the powerless and poor. If the elites of our world ridicule the gospel, then we will bring it to those on the margins of society. If we remain faithful to God despite the rejection and ridicule we face, the gospel will continue to spread and bring hope and healing to our world.

Secondly, God brings good out of rejection by using it to reveal His mercy.

All of us have sinned. That means that all of us have rejected God in one way or another. Yet, God has never abandoned us. Rather, He continually offers us forgiveness. As many times as we reject Him, just as many times He welcomes us back. As many times as we flee from Him, so many times He seeks us out.

Now, if it were in our power to be perfect, we would never know the forgiving love of God. If we had never fallen, we would never know the power of God to pick us back up again. If we never sinned, we might come to believe that God loves us because we are good. We would never know that He loves us unconditionally. We would never know what it means to be forgiven. Also, we would never know what it means to forgive another person. All that would be lost to us if we had never rejected God through our sin.

If we truly want to be like Jesus then we must be prepared to face rejection. We do so, however, with confidence in God’s promise spoken to us through Jeremiah in today’s first reading: “Be not crushed on their account...for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”

God is with us. There is no greater sign of His presence among us than in the Eucharist we are about to receive. This great gift of God’s love is available to us because of the rejection Jesus suffered on the cross. Through it, God brought about the victory of the resurrection. If we remain faithful despite our fear of rejection, God will use it to bring the good news to others. Then we can look forward to hearing our Lord say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Surviving Family Dinners

One full month has passed since we gathered with our families to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. In the middle of winter, we may look back fondly on those days and miss the time we spent laughing and reminiscing with the people we love and who know us best.

At the same time, not all family gatherings are pleasant. It seems as though each family has that one aunt, brother or cousin who always has to bring up politics at a party. No matter what the occasion, they have to make a point of letting everyone know what their views are. Inevitably, someone else has to chime in to let them know that they don’t agree with them. All of a sudden, the atmosphere becomes stiff and awkward. People excuse themselves from the table or decide that it is time to leave the party altogether. What should have been a festive gathering becomes uncomfortable and divisive.

When the topic turns to religion, however, the situation can become even more tense. As people of faith, it is one thing for us to bite our tongue when a politician is being criticized. However, when our Church or beliefs are being challenged, we feel the need to defend our faith. When our children are at the table, we feel an even stronger responsibility to state clearly what we believe so that they do not think that we agree with what is being said. At the same time, we do not want to offend anyone or make our family gatherings contentious.

What are we to do? Should we just bite our tongue when our faith is being mischaracterized and ridiculed? For the sake of peace, should we just try to change the subject?

Saint Peter in his first letter gives the following advice: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Pt 3:16). The key is to state our beliefs with gentleness and respect. Whenever we talk about our faith, our first concern should not be to impress everyone with what we know or to prove that we are right. Rather, we want them to know Jesus who is the source of all joy. In all things we must make it clear that we are motivated by love.

 In today’s second reading, Saint Paul spells out for us in vivid detail what love looks like. His words can help us to understand what our attitude should be when we are called upon to defend our faith to our family and friends.

First of all, Saint Paul tells us that love is patient and kind. Patient and kind people listen more often than they speak. Many times family discussions become heated because everyone is talking and no one is listening. What if, instead of piping up right away with our opinion, we let others explain their position? What if we asked them questions about what they believe and why? When we do so, we are letting others know that we truly respect them and want to understand them. Then, when it is our turn to explain what we believe, they will be more open and respectful to what we have to say.

Saint Paul then tells us that love is not pompous. A loving person is not arrogant or boastful. When we speak to others about our faith, we will get nowhere if we come across as superior or as being a know-it-all. If our first concern is with showing how right we are and how wrong everyone else is, we will only being enforcing the stereotype that people of faith are “holier than thou” and hypocritical. Rather, we must always be humble when we talk about our beliefs. It must be clear to all that we are sinners just as they are and that our primary concern is with seeking the truth. When we do not know the answer to a question, we should admit it. When we do so, we let others know that we do not want to impose our beliefs on them but that we respect them even though we strongly disagree them.

Saint Paul then tells us that love is not quick-tempered. When our beliefs are being challenged and the Church we love is being criticized, it can be very difficult for us not to become angry. We can easily become frustrated when others fail to grasp the logic behind what we are saying. However, losing our temper and belittling others only offends them and closes their minds to what we have to say. It is true that sometimes discussions about religion can get heated. When that happens, we simply have to say, “Perhaps this is not the right time and place to talk about this,” and walk away. We can never fall into the trap of getting angry when we explain our faith to others because it only gives them an excuse to dismiss what we are saying.

When Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, the people He knew best found it hard to believe Him. We should not be surprised, then, when we fail to convince or convert our family and friends. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that people are convinced more by our example than by our opinion. If we can treat our family members and friends with love, gentleness and respect even when we disagree with them, then we can hope that their hearts and minds will be open for God to work within them. Then we should pray that someone else comes along who can plant the seed of faith in them. That is the loving attitude we are called to display as followers of Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, it is love that convinces, love that converts and love that reveals the face of God in Jesus Christ even to the hardest heart

Nazareth's Homeboy

Have you ever noticed that priests are rarely assigned to the parishes they grew up in? There is a good reason for that. If the parish is filled with people who knew the priest when he was young, they might find it harder to look upon him as a leader. It might be difficult to take what he has to say seriously because they knew him as a mischievous youngster. Also the parishioners would find it harder confessing their sins to him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or bringing their problems to him if they see him as no different from themselves. When we think we know someone very well, it is difficult to see him or her in another light. The better we think we know them, the harder it is for us to be inspired or surprised by them.

Jesus knew this very well. In today’s gospel, he returns to His hometown, Nazareth. Up to this point, He had been preaching throughout the Galilee area and had established a reputation as a powerful healer. When He returns to Nazareth, the townsfolk are anxious to see what has become of their hometown boy. In Jesus’ time, Nazareth was a very small town of a few hundred people. Everyone knew each other very well. There were no secrets among them. So when Jesus arrives, they are impressed by His words of wisdom but cannot get passed their memories of him. They think they know everything there is to know about Him but are unaware of just how wrong they are. It is clear to us when they ask, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” that they have no idea that He is in fact the Son of God. And because of their lack of faith - their inability to get past what they think they know - Jesus is unable to perform any miracles for them.

How does Jesus react? Does He tell them that He understands the difficulty they are experiencing in accepting Him? Does he reassure them that it is natural not to believe that a hometown boy could perform miracles? On the contrary, He rebukes them sternly for their stubbornness. He lets them know in no uncertain terms that they are missing out on a great work of God and that they will be judged for it. We know how strong Jesus’ criticism of them is by their reaction. They immediately seize Him and take Him to the edge of town to throw Him off a cliff. “How dare He speak to us like that!” , they must have thought. “Who does He think He is?” The sad part is that, because of their preconceived notions, they missed out on the opportunity to be healed, to have their sins forgiven and to draw closer to their Heavenly Father.

Today’s gospel reading provides a stern warning for us, especially for many of us who are lifelong Catholics and think we know all there is to know about our faith. Because we attend Mass every Sunday and follow all the rules, we can be deceived into believing that we are already doing enough. We can think that there is nothing more for us to learn, nothing more that is required of us. We have already heard it all. If we think that way, then God has a big surprise for us.

Have you ever had the experience of someone asking you a question about your faith? Maybe you have had a Protestant friend ask you why Catholics pray to Mary or a child ask  you how God can be three persons but still one God? Then have you had the experience of not being able to explain what you believe? It is at such moments that we appreciate just how rich our faith is and how much there is to learn. We can never exhaust all there is to know about God, the Church, the Bible, the Sacraments and all the great treasures of our faith. Even our Holy Father, the Pope, spends time every day in study trying to gain a deeper understanding of the mysteries of God. If He is still hungry to learn more, then we certainly should make an effort to study our faith.

A good place to start would be reading the Bible. Just a few minutes everyday going through the Old Testament prophets, the gospels or the letters of Saint Paul can broaden our understanding of the mysteries of salvation. Another important book to have is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Just about any question we might have regarding what the Church teaches can be found there. There are also many websites that provide helpful information about our faith. The more we learn, the hungrier we will be to understand even more and the deeper our faith will grow.

Our second reading today gives us insight into the best way to keep our faith fresh and new for us. It is by cultivating love. We can never allow ourselves to forget that the Catholic faith is not primarily a matter of attending Mass and following rules. First and foremost, it is a matter of love. All the rules are meant to teach us what it means to love God and one another as Jesus commanded us. Love is an ongoing adventure. We never reach a point in our lives when we have loved enough. Rather love is a day to day commitment to reach out to the poor, to put the needs of others before our own and to strive to see the face of Christ in everyone we meet. Dedicating ourselves to loving God and others daily we ensure that we will not miss out on all the beautiful gifts our Heavenly Father wishes to pour out upon us.

No matter where we are on our faith journey, it can be tempting for us to think we have heard it all and know everything we need to know. The good news can easily sound like old news to us. However, by committing ourselves to growing in our understanding of what Jesus teaches and by focusing on love we can keep the message of Christ ever fresh in our hearts. In this way, we will always be open to the way Jesus visits us today with new graces and deeper insights. Unlike the villagers of Nazareth who could not put faith in Him, we will be able to receive all the gifts of knowledge, healing and power that Jesus brings to us.

The Wonder Of God's Love

When children first learn about God, they can believe that he created all things and that he is everywhere at the same time. What they have trouble believing is that God knows every single person on earth by name. It is just too much for their little brains to comprehend. And when you tell them that not only does he know everyone who is living now, he knows everyone who ever lived and everyone who will ever live in the future, you might think that their heads would explode. However, as they get over the shock of realizing God's vast knowledge and power, it is a joy to see their eyes open with wonder when it begins to sink in that God knows each one of them personally, by name. They then begin to realize that God not only knows them but loves them.

It is important for us every now and then in prayer to ponder over this simple but profound fact. God knows each of us by name. He knows every detail of our lives. He knew us before we were even born. He knew us in our mother's womb, and he knows us now. Why is he so interested in us when he has a whole universe to watch over? Very simply, because he loves us. His love for us is the one thing that can never change in our lives.

Today's first reading is taken from the beginning of the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is being called by God to be a prophet at a time of much corruption in Israel. He knows that it is going to be a struggle speaking God's truth to the nation's power brokers. He knows that he will be ridiculed, persecuted and maybe even killed. God does not assure Jeremiah that it will be easy or that people will listen to him. Instead, he tells Jeremiah that he knew him in his mother's womb, and that he will always be with him. That knowledge that God is always by his side will give Jeremiah the courage and strength to speak the truth to the people, to shoulder their ridicule and rejection and to face his own death. His confidence is not in himself. His sense of security does not come from whether or not people like and accept him. Rather he needs nothing else than to know that God loves him and is with him.

In the gospel proclaimed today, Jesus is preaching in his hometown of Nazareth. One would think that it would be the safest place for him to be, among those who have known him since he was a boy. But his words meet with opposition even there. In fact, the people are so incensed by his message that they drag him out to the edge of the town to throw him off the cliff. But Jesus calmly walks away. He knows that God is with him, that it is not his time to suffer and die, and that his Father would not allow a hair on his head to be harmed until the time was right. Any of us would have been devastated to have our friends reject us as Jesus' friends rejected him. Though Jesus was no doubt hurt by them, he was not devastated. The source of his identity and confidence did not come from the esteem of the people of Nazareth. Rather it came from the Father's love for him. Knowing that he could never be separated from that love gave him the courage to labor on preaching the good news even in the face of such hostility.

Where do we place our security? Where do we draw confidence from? If our security and confidence are not based on God's love for us, then they are misplaced. There is nothing else on earth that we can count on as surely as God's love for us. Our money eventually runs out. Our loved ones eventually die and leave us. Our health gets weaker as we age. When all is said and done, it is only God's love that is constant in our lives.

Our society is suffering from an epidemic of anxiety. Our world feels unbalanced, and fear can so easily creep into our minds and hearts. We have placed our confidence in money, relationships, our talents and our health, and realized just how shaky all those foundations can be. When we sense that fear is nipping at our heels, it is time to turn to our Heavenly Father and reaffirm our faith that he is in control of our lives. It is time to put our confidence in his unfailing love. Such an attitude will not solve our problems. But it will give us the confidence to face them and the perspective necessary to not be overwhelmed by them.

Our second reading today is one of the most popular in all the New Testament. It is Saint Paul's song of love. The love which Saint Paul describes, however, is not an emotional love full of drama as we might see on a soap opera. Rather it is the love of Christ displayed in all its glory on the cross. God loved each of us so much that he sent his beloved Son to die for us. If God has loved us so much, he will do all else for us besides. And we can never lose that love. No matter what we may have done in our lives, no matter how far off we may have drifted, God always calls us back to him. We can count on God to forgive us and to put behind us whatever sins we may have committed. The one thing we can count on in life is God's forgiving love.

God knows each of us. He knows every detail of our lives. He knows what we need before we ask. He knows our future, and he knows our past. Why would rely on anything or anyone else when the God who created the universe loves us so passionately and so completely? How could we ever doubt that everything will be okay when God himself is watching over us?

The Presentation of the Lord

Many people have tried to read the Bible from cover to cover, from the book of Genesis all the way through the book of Revelation. However, spiritual directors typically do not recommend reading the Bible this way, especially for beginners. It is not an easy task and can be discouraging to those who are young in their faith. While there are many beautiful and illuminating passages throughout Scriptures, there are also sections with long genealogies and tedious historical accounts that seem flat and monotonous.

Where people typically say they give up on reading the Bible this way is in the book of Leviticus. It is the third book of the Bible and contains many chapters which go on and on describing in detail how temple rituals are to be performed including how animals are to be sacrificed, what vestments the priests are to wear and how those participating in the rituals must purify themselves before taking part. There are also strict dietary laws and rules about observing the Sabbath.

To us in the twenty-first century, these rules seem arcane and legalistic. What possible spiritual benefit could anyone gain from observing them? However, we must keep in mind that these laws are a part of God’s word. Though we no longer follow many of  them today, they served an important role in shaping the life and faith of the Jewish people. For instance, the meticulous rituals taught the Israelites that God is holy, that He is the one God, greater than all the other gods of the pagans. The sacrifice of animals taught them that God is the Creator and that all life belongs to Him. By following the rules of ritual purity, God’s People learned that they must respect Him and approach Him with humility. Finally the dietary laws and Sabbath rules helped the Jewish people hold on to their religious identity when they were forced to live among pagan peoples. Therefore, the Jewish people did not look upon these many laws as a heavy burden but as a blessing given them by God. They were taken very seriously by all Jews including Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the apostles.

However, it is human nature that when we are presented with laws we try to look for loopholes. We look for ways to meet the bare minimum that the rules require. We try to figure out how much we can get away with without breaking the commandments. The same is true of the Jewish people. For that reason, God sent prophets to remind them that the law was meant to train them to treat each other charitably, especially the poor. Through the prophet Hosea, God would say, “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice” (Hos 6;6). Through Isaiah God would proclaim, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free,  and to break every yoke?” (Is 58:6). It is clear that to please God it takes more than following rules and regulations. It requires more than ritual or dietary purity. It also requires moral purity, purity of heart. As the prophet Micah teaches, “And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8).

Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Jesus, Mary and Joseph travel to the temple in Jerusalem to fulfill one of the dictates of the law - that of offering sacrifice for a firstborn son. This was done to recall how when the people were enslaved in Egypt the angel killed the firstborn sons of their captors but spared the firstborn of the Israelites. The law required that a sacrifice of a lamb, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons be offered. Scripture scholars tell us that because Joseph and Mary were poor, they were not required to bring a lamb. However, there is another way to look at this. Could it be that they did not bring a lamb because Jesus Himself was the lamb?

Jesus is the Lamb of God who is sacrificed on the cross for our sins. We no longer observe all the sacrifices and ritual laws of the Old Testament because Jesus has met them all for us by offering Himself on the cross. His death made all the sacrifices of the Old Testament obsolete. We no longer need to offer bulls, lambs or turtledoves to find forgiveness for our trespasses. God has taken care of all that through the blood of His only Son. As we read today in the book of Hebrews, “Through death [Jesus destroyed] the one who has the power of death...to expiate the sins of the people.” Through our baptism we have been made pure to worship God and to enjoy a personal relationship with Him.

There are still rules we must follow. However,  they are just the minimum that is required of us. Like the people of the Old Testament, we can fall into the trap of only trying to meet the rules without living the faith in all its fullness. We can become content with making it to Mass every Sunday yet fail on Monday to live the demands of the gospel we heard. When we do that, our faith becomes lifeless. It becomes just a matter of jumping through hoops. We do not exude the joy of the good news.

To be true followers of Jesus, then, we need the purity of heart which the Old Testament speaks of, a purity that is not content with keeping rules but with showing love. If we are to truly know the God who reveals Himself in Jesus Christ we must not only keep the letter of the law but the spirit of the law.  We must forgive those who offend us just as God has forgiven us in Christ. We must reach out to the poor, the needy and the sick as Jesus did. Then our prayers, our sacrifices and our good works will be acceptable to God. Then we will know the salvation that Jesus died on the cross and rose in glory to make possible for us.

It is customary on this feast day to bless the candles that will be used in the church in the coming year. They serve as symbols of Jesus who is the Light of the World. This same Jesus calls us to be light for a world plunged in the darkness of fear, skepticism, denial and hatred. If we are content to simply follow the rules, our light will be dim at best. But if in the power of the Spirit we love our neighbor, feed the hungry, show mercy to sinners and give comfort to those in need, then we will radiate hope to a world that does not need more judgment or more laws but, instead, needs more of Jesus and His love.