Spiritual But Not Religious? Really - Self-Centered And Naïve

 

It is common nowadays for people to describe themselves as "spiritual and not religious." We all have friends who say that about themselves or have seen the phrase written on bumper stickers.

 But what do people mean when they claim to be "spiritual but not religious"?

 Generally, they mean that they have a relationship with God or with a "higher power" without belonging to a church or adhering to any dogmas or creeds. In fact, they claim to have respect for all religions, picking and choosing from each the teachings that suit their lifestyle and the "god of their understanding". For such people, religion is not a shared, communal reality, but a personal, interior experience.

What they really mean, however, is that they are not willing to commit to anything or anyone but themselves. When you hear "spiritual but not religious" read "self-centered and naïve." 

Jesus gives insight into what it means to be genuinely spiritual in Sunday's gospel.

 Andrew and Philip approach Jesus to tell him about some Greeks who want to meet him. It is the week of Passover, close to the time when he would suffer and die. His upcoming death is weighing heavily on his heart. His "hour" is approaching, and he takes the opportunity to instruct the disciples and us about what it means to be a true follower. It means having our hearts set on eternal life. And the only way to enter into that heavenly life is to hate our earthly life. The only way to reach the glory of heaven is through death. Jesus say, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." And so the person who loves Jesus is willing to follow him when it is inconvenient, when it is painful and when it is costly. The truly spiritual person who has his or her heart set on the things of heaven will follow Jesus even to the cross. The person with genuine insight into spiritual matters realizes that Jesus cannot be separated from his cross nor can eternal life be separated from death to self.

 The words of Jesus are very different from the language we hear from the "spiritual but not religious" crowd. For them, being spiritual is not a way of dying to self but of enriching oneself. It is not a way of glorifying God but of growing in self-esteem and self-fulfillment. It is not a way of seeking the things of heaven but of having a better life on earth. It is not about knowing God as he has revealed himself in Scripture and in Church teaching so that we can humbly serve others but about having secret knowledge that gives one a sense of superiority over others. This so-called "New Age" spirituality is really something very old trying to achieve the glory of heaven without the shame of the cross.

To be a true follower of Jesus, we must be both spiritual AND religious. 

We don't want to deny ourselves the experience of worship with other believers. We want to learn from the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Church. We want to benefit from the wisdom of the believers who have gone before us. We want to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. 

This abundance of spiritual riches is ours through baptism and faith. It is a taste of heaven given to us who have decided to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. 

Sanctifying Our Work

 

 There is a beautiful story that a cardinal tells about his time in Rome. He was walking down the street toward the Vatican when he saw a man sweeping the street. After greeting him, the man said, “Your Eminence, you are going to the Vatican to do important work. But, if I sweep this street with more love, then my work is even more valuable in the eyes of God than yours.” The cardinal told him that he was absolutely correct, because love is what gives value to human work.

That is something that all of us should remember. As Pope Saint John Paul II put it, “It is the human person who gives dignity to the work, not work that gives dignity to the person.” Whatever our work may be, if we are doing our best and serving others out of love, then we can hold our heads up high and do it proudly. At the same time, we should never look down on others because of how they earn a living.

 Now matter how much love we put into our work, however, it will still be difficult. All work involves some kind of suffering whether it is physical or emotional. As Christians, we have a way of dealing with suffering- by uniting it with the suffering of Jesus on the cross. So, when I am straining every muscle to do my work, I can call to mind how Jesus struggled to carry the cross. If I am not being appreciated for what I do, I can remember how Jesus was looked down on and ridiculed as He hung on the cross. By uniting our suffering with that of Jesus, we find strength to carry on and we are transformed in the process. 

 One thing many people do is offer the suffering of their work for a specific intention. For instance, we could offer the pain involved in a particularly challenging project for those who are not able to find a job. Or, we could offer the anxiety and nervousness we might be feeling for those who are poor and do not know where their next meal will come from. By doing that, we take the focus off ourselves and what we are experiencing and remembering those who have less than we do. Whenever we do that, we grow in appreciation for what we have and in love for others.

Work is meant to be a blessing for us. It is a way that we can develop our talents and serve others out of love. It is also a way that we can share in Jesus’ cross. So we gather here on this day of rest to thank God for the gift of work and also to pray for those who are unemployed or who are being exploited in their work. May our work help build a world marked with God’s justice

Change of Heart Required

 

Following Jesus and believing in him changes us. When we realize that God created each of us in his image and likeness, then we begin to treat all people with love and respect. When we realize the depth of God's love for each person, we can no longer turn our backs on people when they need us. When we realize how much we have been forgiven by a merciful God, we begin to forgive those who hurt us no matter how great the offense. Friendship with Jesus transforms us from selfish, narrow-minded individuals into people who love truly from our hearts after the example of our Savior. 

There is one thing that our friendship with Jesus cannot do, however. It cannot keep us from being sinners. No matter how close we grow to Jesus we will always be tempted to turn our backs on him in one way or another. No matter how long we may have followed him, we will always fall back into sin. But Jesus our friend is forgiving. He will always take us back no matter how we have offended him if we show him that we are sorry and are committed to changing. Though we can and do abandon him, he will never abandon us. Jesus is the most faithful of friends.

 

Jesus is always there for us to turn to in our time of need. When the bad choices we have made in our lives start catching up to us, Jesus is there to listen and to guide us back on the right path. If any of us wishes to know what life is like with Jesus as a friend, it is as simple as asking him to come into our hearts and our lives. Going to the sacrament of confession and laying out before God all the ways we have chosen the wrong path is an important place to start. Then regret can give way to peace, fear can give way to joy, and hostility can give way to love. And we can say with so many others before us - What a friend we have in Jesus!

Your Body Is Holy

 

Our bodies are good and holy. Because of that our sexuality is also something good and holy. It is given to us as a gift. It drives us to reach out beyond ourselves to others. It makes it possible for us to be in relationship with others and to love them. Our sexuality teaches us that we cannot find our ultimate fulfillment in ourselves but in union with others. 

God does not want us to deny our sexuality. He does not want us to make believe it's not there or ignore it. Rather, He wants us to use the power of our sexuality to pour ourselves out enthusiastically in love and service of others. Because it is such a powerful force in our lives, He wants us to use it responsibly. 

How do we do that? By exercising the virtue of chastity. Chastity is the power to direct our sexual desires toward love and service of others. It does not seek to REPRESS our sexual desires but to EXPRESS them in healthy and loving ways. For instance, chaste people can appreciate the physical beauty of men and women. They experience the same intense sexual desires for other people that unchaste people do. However, chaste people do not dwell on the physical but seek to go deeper, to see the inner beauty of the person. Because of that, they have healthy marriages based on unconditional love and mutual respect. Their marriages are also more passionate because, long after their physical beauty has faded, they have an intimacy based on trust not on lust. And chaste people have more lasting, fulfilling friendships  because they are able to love people as they are without wanting or expecting anything from them. 

We need to learn chastity if we want healthy friendships and passionate marriages. The truth is that the unchaste person is not capable of love. If we treat people as objects for our own pleasure or only value people who are attractive, then we cannot love unconditionally. All our relationships will end in failure because no one will be able to meet our unrealistic expectations. Only when we learn to love people as they are - whether they are physically appealing to us or not - can we have healthy, intimate relationships. Only by being able to give love can we find love.

Spiritual AND Religious

It is common nowadays for people to describe themselves as "spiritual and not religious." We all have friends who say that about themselves or have seen the phrase written on bumper stickers. Some of us here today might even describe ourselves that way.

But what do people mean when they claim to be "spiritual but not religious"?

Generally, they mean that they have a relationship with God or with a "higher power" without belonging to a church or adhering to any dogmas or creeds. In fact, they claim to have respect for all religions, picking and choosing from each the teachings that suit their lifestyle and the  "god of their understanding". For such people, religion is not a shared, communal reality, but a personal, interior experience.

As with all fallacies, there is a kernel of truth in what these self-described spiritual people believe. Religion is primarily a matter of the heart and of the spirit. Because each of us is created in God's image and likeness, we all carry within ourselves the ability to hear his voice speaking to us through our conscience. Our hearts were made to love God above all things. When we look within, we already find a basic understanding of God and his plan for our lives. God created us to be spiritual.  

We hear this reality described in today's first reading. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promises the people of Israel that he is about to establish a new covenant with them. That is, he is about to invite them into a new relationship of faithful love with him. Unlike the old covenant which was written on the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments,  the new covenant will be written on their hearts. As Jeremiah describes it, no one will need to be taught the ways of the Lord because God will reveal himself to the heart of each believer. This is what we commonly mean by the word "spiritual" - to have an interior, heart-felt love of God.

However, God is talking about something more than a natural desire or ability to know him. Rather, this personal relationship with him is a gift. It is not something that is ours through birth, but through baptism. God's Spirit who writes this new covenant in our heart, who speaks to our spirit about the ways of truth and love, is given to us through baptism and faith. The Holy Spirit is not something we can receive just through personal reflection or meditation. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become members of a community of faith. We receive the Holy Spirit by practicing religion.

Jesus gives us more insight into what it means to be genuinely spiritual in today's gospel. Andrew and Philip approach Jesus to tell him about some Greeks who want to meet him. It is the week of Passover, close to the time when he would suffer and die. His upcoming death is weighing heavily on his heart. His "hour" is approaching, and he takes the opportunity to instruct the disciples and us about what it means to be a true follower. It means having our hearts set on eternal life. And the only way to enter into that heavenly life is to hate our earthly life. The only way to reach the glory of heaven is through death. Jesus say, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." And so the person who loves Jesus is willing to follow him when it is inconvenient, when it is painful and when it is costly. The truly spiritual person who has his or her heart set on the things of heaven will follow Jesus even to the cross. The person with genuine insight into spiritual matters realizes that Jesus cannot be separated from his cross nor can eternal life be separated from death to self.

The words of Jesus are very different from the language we hear from the "spiritual but not religious" crowd. For them, being spiritual is not a way of dying to self but of enriching oneself. It is not a way of glorifying God but of growing in self-esteem and self-fulfillment. It is not a way of seeking the things of heaven but of having a better life on earth. It is not about knowing God as he has revealed himself in Scripture and in Church teaching so that we can humbly serve others but about having secret knowledge that gives one a sense of superiority over others. This so-called "New Age" spirituality is really something very old - trying to achieve the glory of heaven without the shame of the cross.

We shouldn't judge such people. Very often, they are well-meaning and generous. At the same time, we don't want to fall into their error and miss out on the abundance of life that Jesus is offering us. His words are clear to all those who seek him: "If anyone would follow me, he must take up his cross." The deepest desire of our heart is union with God through Jesus. It is natural that we fear being ridiculed by others for practising our religion in a whole-hearted way. It is also natural that we fear what we would have to give up to follow Jesus. But as the Holy Spirit reveals to our hearts more and more the love of God and the truth of the gospel, those fears diminish because we are beginning to taste what our spirits long for and  everything else seems less important by comparison. When we have the real thing, we will not settle for cheap imitations!

We are here today because we are both spiritual and religious. We do not want to deny ourselves the experience of worship with other believers. We want to learn from the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Church. We want to benefit from the wisdom of the believers who have gone before us. We want to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. This abundance of spiritual riches is ours through baptism and faith. It is a taste of heaven given to us who have decided to pick up our cross and follow Jesus.  

Spirituality Of Work

Jesus knew what hard work was all about. For most of his life, he toiled as a carpenter building  and making repairs to homes. When there was not enough carpentry work, he would have hired himself out as a day laborer in the fields harvesting grain and olives. He knew what it was like to have to work under the hot sun. He knew what it was like to have a bad day, to have someone yell at him because they were not happy with his work or to have someone refuse to pay him. There were probably many nights when he came home and wanted to just go straight to bed.

The hard work did not end, however, when he decided to hang up his carpentry belt to preach the Kingdom of God. There were many long days traveling from town to town, preaching to crowds and healing the sick. People were always pressing in on him from all sides sometimes just to get a look at the wonder worker from Galilee and other times to hopefully be cured. As we see in today’s gospel, Jesus got little rest. But he kept pressing forward, despite the difficulties, to do the will of his Heavenly Father.

Of course, his greatest work was that which he accomplished on the cross, dying to save us. It was obviously very difficult, but he endured it all out of love. And because of his great love, he turned what would otherwise have been a great tragedy into a source of salvation and hope for the whole world.

Work is an unavoidable part of the human condition, and all work involves some drudgery as Job tells us in the first reading. There are the sore muscles and fatigue that come from hard manual labor. There is the stress and anxiety of trying to meet deadlines. There is dealing with people who are often never happy no matter what we do. And there is the frustration and feelings of failure that come from looking for work in a challenging economy. Work whether it is in an office, in the home or in the classroom is never easy.

However, as Christians, we look at work as more than a way to earn a living. Through faith we understand that it is a way for us to cooperate with God in transforming the world. God wants to use us and our work to make the world a better place. So all of our work, no matter how menial or insignificant it may seem, is a way of helping to build the Kingdom of God.

Consider this. All of us are wearing clothes made by people we have never met. They got up early in the morning, took their places at their sewing machines and got to work. It may not have occurred to them that they were doing anything meaningful, but because of their work we have clothing to keep us warm. All thanks to people we have never met. The same is true of the cars we drive, the houses we live in and the food we eat. All of those things which are so necessary for our well-being are  the result of someone’s hard work.

The same is true for our work. Whatever we do, no matter how trivial it may seem, it is doing someone an immense amount of good. God is using it to make someone’s life better. We may never see it and we may never be thanked for it, but it is real and we should take pride in it.

In today’s society, it is common for us to separate our faith from our work. It is not always clear to us how our worship on Sunday should transform our work on Monday. However, for believers, all things are transformed by love. Just as by love Jesus transformed the cross into a means of salvation, just so through love we transform our work from mere drudgery into a means of holiness for us.

A cardinal tells the story of a time he was walking through the streets of Rome on his way to the Vatican. A street sweeper greeted him and asked, “Your Excellency, are you on your way to see the Pope?” The cardinal answered, “Yes.” The man then continued, “I’m sure you will be making many important decisions today. But if I sweep these streets with love, it will be equally important in the eyes of God.” And the cardinal replied, “It certainly will be.”

When our work is difficult, when it seems demeaning, when we feel as though we cannot go on, we should offer it all up to God in love. When we feel overwhelmed, when people are pressing us to do more and more, when we are too tired to even think straight, we can give it all to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to help us. By offering it all up for the love of God and for the conversion of sinners, we can transform our work into a means of salvation for ourselves and for the world.

When we bring our love for God into the workplace it will also have a transforming effect on the people we work with. They will notice how we complain less than others, how we avoid gossip and backstabbing and how peaceful we are even under stress. They will wonder what is different about us and ask us about the joy we have. Then we can witness to them about the love of God which changes all things.

Jesus promises that he will make all things work for good for those who will love and follow him. That means that he will use our work, no matter how tedious it may seem, to do good for the world. If we embrace it with love, it can transform us and our world. All we have to do is take our faith to work with us on Monday and let God take care of the rest. 

Come To The Water

We often hear people say that they are “religious but not spiritual”. If we were to ask them what they mean they might say that they pray, however they do not attend religious services or consider themselves a member of an organized religion. Others might say that they try to find God everywhere not just in church. Still others might claim that they try to take what is good and true in any religion and seek to live by it without following just one tradition.

Some people even quote Jesus in support of these views. They point to His criticism of the religious authorities of His day and His condemnation of hypocrisy. Quoting the Sermon on the Mount, they remind us that Jesus said that when we pray we should hide ourselves in our rooms and pray to our Heavenly Father in secret.

However, what we often fail to realize is that Jesus, despite these criticisms, was very religious. The gospels tell us that when He was a child He observed the law of Moses. Mary and Joseph had Him circumcised and presented in the temple in accordance with the law. Jesus was raised to love His Jewish faith and the people of Israel. When He gathered His first disciples, He chose all Jews and urged them to preach only to “the lost sheep of the tribes of Israel”. When He spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, He told her that “salvation comes from the Jews.” Furthermore, even though He sometimes harshly criticized the religious authorities of His day, He told His disciples to obey them.

Finally, as a good Jew, Jesus would observe all the Jewish festivals, traveling to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. In today’s passage from the gospel of Saint John, He is in the holy city to celebrate the Festival of Booths which is sometimes also called the “Festival of Tabernacles.” During this feast, the Jewish people recalled how God provided for His people during their forty year sojourn in the desert toward the promised land.

Saint John tells us that it is the “last and greatest day of the feast.” On that day, the priests would pour water over the altar in the temple to recall how God provided water from the rock for the Israelites to drink when they were thirsty in the desert. Jesus uses the opportunity to tell the crowds that He is the living water come down from heaven. “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.” Saint John goes on to tell us that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit which He would be pouring out on His people after He was glorified in His death, resurrection and ascension.

We can link the idea of “thirst” to what we today commonly call “being spiritual”. As human beings, there is a thirst within us for something more. We live our day-to-day lives with a feeling of incompleteness. We strive for more. As Christians, we understand that this “thirst” is our desire for God. We were created with a thirst for God that no other person, career or amount of material possessions can  quench. Saint Paul puts it best in today’s second reading where we hear, “we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”

Jesus tells us that He is the only one who can meet that deep need we have for communion with God. As the Son of God - true God along with the Father - He alone can reveal to us who God is. When we see and hear Jesus, we see and hear God. When we receive Jesus,  we receive God Himself. Therefore, only He is capable of filling the God sized hole in our heart.

Jesus meets our spiritual need by pouring out His Holy Spirit upon us. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit is also God Himself. He is God living within us, inspiring us, strengthening us and giving us all we need to lead good and holy lives. When we welcome Him into our hearts, He is poured into our soul like cool, refreshing water to quench our thirst.

That is the spiritual side of the equation. However, there is also a religious side. To receive the gift of the Spirit, we have to be part of a community of believers.

Consider this. How would we know about Jesus if no one had told us about Him. If the apostles decided that they would just be “spiritual and not religious” they would not have bothered to write the New Testament and pass on Jesus’ teaching to us. Much less would they have given their lives to establish churches throughout the Roman empire. If they had not, by the power of the Spirit, spread the good news, the story of Jesus would have died with them. Instead, they understood that to foster the life of the Spirit within them, they had to observe some religious practices, set down some moral rules and establish some structure to ensure that the saving message of Jesus would be carried on through the centuries.

It is in our nature as human beings to be spiritual. Because we are created in the image and likeness of God we seek truth, beauty and goodness. Because God has made us to be in a relationship with Him, we thirst for friendship with Him. However, because we are human beings, we also need religion to teach us who God is and to lead us to Him. We need someone to baptize us, confirm us and preach the good news to us so that we can receive the Holy Spirit, the river of life-giving water we long for.

Tonight, the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate that the promised gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us in abundance. God has provided for us in our weakness. He has shown us the way home and supplied everything we need to get there. His Spirit within us leads us to believe that there is salvation in no other name than in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that we are to follow Him along with our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church. For all these gifts, we rejoice and are filled with zeal to proclaim this truth to others so that they may join us in celebrating the love of our Heavenly Father.

God Of Surprises

Our God is a God of surprises. He can be found in the most unexpected places and circumstances.

No one knows this better than a young woman named Kate.

Since she was young, Kate always felt a close relationship with God. However, in her late 20’s, she found herself working a high-pressure job and planning her wedding. There was just not as much time for prayer and spiritual reading which at one time had been a priority for her. Little by little, she felt herself losing her connection to her Heavenly Father. In fact, the only time she prayed was when the stress from work and wedding planning got to be too much for her. She would simply cry out, “Where are you, God, and why aren’t you helping me?”

One day, while rushing to catch the subway to work, a homeless person stopped her and asked her for change. She just did not have the time to stop and blurted out to him, “Please leave me alone!” Though he was startled, he calmly replied, “That’s okay, ma’am. I’ll still pray for you.”

Kate was struck to her core by his response. It helped her to realize how selfish she had been. She had allowed the pressures of life to squeeze out what had always been important to her, namely, being attentive to the needy. This man had helped her realize that God had not abandoned her, but she had abandoned God. She had been wondering where God was but it turned out that He had never left her. And she discovered this truth in the most unexpected of places and in the most surprising of ways - on a subway platform from a homeless person.

Today’s scripture readings speak to us of this God of surprises who reveals Himself in the most unexpected of ways.

In the first reading, God takes some of the Spirit which is on Moses and bestows it on seventy elders to assist him in leading the people of Israel through the desert. Though, two of the elders are outside of the meeting place, they too receive the Spirit and begin prophesying. Moses’ closest assistant, Joshua, is offended by what he sees and urges Moses to stop them. But Moses recognizes the work of the Spirit and understands that he cannot control it. He was used to God working in unexpected ways. It was a lesson that his young assistant would also need to learn.

In the gospel, Jesus’ closest friend, John, witnesses some people casting out a demon in Christ’s name. Like Joshua, he is offended by it and urges Jesus to stop them. It must have been an especially stinging event to witness since only a few chapters earlier, the disciples themselves were unable to exorcise a man who had come to them possessed with a demon. Like Moses, Jesus assures His disciples that they should welcome any good works done in His name no matter who does it. The Spirit of God does not follow our rules or limit Himself to our expectations. He is a God of surprises who always does what is unexpected. Soon enough, the disciples would discover how true Jesus’ words are when He is unexpectedly raised from the dead and when they finally receive the fullness of the Spirit themselves empowering them to preach the good news.

If God seems distant to us, if we feel as though we have lost touch with our Heavenly Father, could it be that we are looking in the wrong places? If we are unsure what God expects from us, if the direction of our lives is unclear, could it be that He is working in an unexpected way to bring about our sanctification and salvation? Are we so expecting God to work in a certain way and to reveal Himself in a certain place that we are not open to His surprising us from time to time? And if He is working in mysterious ways, how can we discover it and become aware of it.

The great spiritual master, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, can help us. Unlike many of the Church’s other spiritual masters, Saint Ignatius developed a spirituality for people with busy lives. It is not necessary to quit one’s job and spend hours in prayer to follow the way he proposed. One of his spiritual exercises which is especially helpful is called the examen. Like the examination of conscience, Ignatius has us spend a few minutes in the evening reviewing our day. However, the examen is not just concerned with how we may have sinned. It is also focused on how God revealed Himself to us that day.

We begin by taking a few moments to quiet ourselves down and to thank God for everything that happened during the day, both the good and the bad. Then we ask for the grace to review our day, hour by hour or period by period, looking for the ways that God may have been revealing Himself to us and how we responded. Like Kate in the subway, it might be through a homeless person we encounter. It could be at a moment when we look out a window and are struck by how beautiful the world is. As we remember those moments throughout the day, we thank God for revealing Himself and ask Him to give us the grace to recognize Him the following day. If we have failed, we ask for forgiveness and the grace to do better.

Taking that time at the end of every day will not only help us to see how God has been at work in our past but will prepare us to recognize Him when He does appear to us in so many unexpected and surprising ways. It will also give us confidence that no matter how chaotic our lives may seem, God is in the midst of it with us and we can be assured that He will manifest Himself to us in it and lead us through.

We worship a hidden God who can manifest Himself to us in infinitely various ways. Through prayer, we can learn to recognize Him and can allow ourselves to be surprised by Him. Now He comes to us in the most glorious of ways, through the Body and Blood of His Son. Nourished by the bread from heaven, we can now show the God we have discovered to others so that all the world can be charged by the glory of this God of surprises.

Spiritual and Religious

It is common nowadays for people to describe themselves as "spiritual and not religious." We all have friends who say that about themselves or have seen the phrase written on bumper stickers. Some of us here today might even describe ourselves that way.

But what do people mean when they claim to be "spiritual but not religious"?

Generally, they mean that they have a relationship with God or with a "higher power" without belonging to a church or adhering to any dogmas or creeds. In fact, they claim to have respect for all religions, picking and choosing from each the teachings that suit their lifestyle and the  "god of their understanding". For such people, religion is not a shared, communal reality, but a personal, interior experience.

As with all fallacies, there is a kernel of truth in what these self-described spiritual people believe. Religion is primarily a matter of the heart and of the spirit. Because each of us is created in God's image and likeness, we all carry within ourselves the ability to hear his voice speaking to us through our conscience. Our hearts were made to love God above all things. When we look within, we already find a basic understanding of God and his plan for our lives. God created us to be spiritual.  

We hear this reality described in today's first reading. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promises the people of Israel that he is about to establish a new covenant with them. That is, he is about to invite them into a new relationship of faithful love with him. Unlike the old covenant which was written on the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments,  the new covenant will be written on their hearts. As Jeremiah describes it, no one will need to be taught the ways of the Lord because God will reveal himself to the heart of each believer. This is what we commonly mean by the word "spiritual" - to have an interior, heart-felt love of God.

However, God is talking about something more than a natural desire or ability to know him. Rather, this personal relationship with him is a gift. It is not something that is ours through birth, but through baptism. God's Spirit who writes this new covenant in our heart, who speaks to our spirit about the ways of truth and love, is given to us through baptism and faith. The Holy Spirit is not something we can receive just through personal reflection or meditation. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become members of a community of faith. We receive the Holy Spirit by practising religion.

Jesus gives us more insight into what it means to be genuinely spiritual in today's gospel. Andrew and Philip approach Jesus to tell him about some Greeks who want to meet him. It is the week of Passover, close to the time when he would suffer and die. His upcoming death is weighing heavily on his heart. His "hour" is approaching, and he takes the opportunity to instruct the disciples and us about what it means to be a true follower. It means having our hearts set on eternal life. And the only way to enter into that heavenly life is to hate our earthly life. The only way to reach the glory of heaven is through death. Jesus say, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." And so the person who loves Jesus is willing to follow him when it is inconvenient, when it is painful and when it is costly. The truly spiritual person who has his or her heart set on the things of heaven will follow Jesus even to the cross. The person with genuine insight into spiritual matters realizes that Jesus cannot be separated from his cross nor can eternal life be separated from death to self.

The words of Jesus are very different from the language we hear from the "spiritual but not religious" crowd. For them, being spiritual is not a way of dying to self but of enriching oneself. It is not a way of glorifying God but of growing in self-esteem and self-fulfillment. It is not a way of seeking the things of heaven but of having a better life on earth. It is not about knowing God as he has revealed himself in Scripture and in Church teaching so that we can humbly serve others but about having secret knowledge that gives one a sense of superiority over others. This so-called "New Age" spirituality is really something very old - trying to achieve the glory of heaven without the shame of the cross.

We shouldn't judge such people. Very often, they are well-meaning and generous. At the same time, we don't want to fall into their error and miss out on the abundance of life that Jesus is offering us. His words are clear to all those who seek him: "If anyone would follow me, he must take up his cross." The deepest desire of our heart is union with God through Jesus. It is natural that we fear being ridiculed by others for practising our religion in a whole-hearted way. It is also natural that we fear what we would have to give up to follow Jesus. But as the Holy Spirit reveals to our hearts more and more the love of God and the truth of the gospel, those fears diminish because we are beginning to taste what our spirits long for and  everything else seems less important by comparison. When we have the real thing, we will not settle for cheap imitations!

We are here today because we are both spiritual and religious. We do not want to deny ourselves the experience of worship with other believers. We want to learn from the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Church. We want to benefit from the wisdom of the believers who have gone before us. We want to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. This abundance of spiritual riches is ours through baptism and faith. It is a taste of heaven given to us who have decided to pick up our cross and follow Jesus.  

Highs and Lows

When a man and woman first fall in love, they cannot get enough of each other. As often as possible, they spend time together. In their conversations, they want to learn everything about each other. As trust grows, little by little they reveal different facets of their personality. They become increasingly comfortable being themselves as they learn to accept one another.

As time goes on, the deeply felt emotional moments begin to fade and the near ecstatic experiences of love become fewer and fewer. If the couple marries, the glow of romance gives way to the demands of everyday life - maintaining a household, earning a living and raising children. Though the feelings might not seem as intense, the love itself does not go away. Rather it is growing stronger as it grounds itself not just in emotion but in a total, lifelong commitment.

The same is true with our spiritual lives. As we fall in love with Jesus, we want to spend increasingly more time with Him in prayer. We pour over the Bible and other books trying to learn as much as we can about our Savior. At Mass or at adoration, we experience intensely deep emotions, even breaking down into tears as our Heavenly Father’s love becomes more and more real to us.

However, with time, those emotional highs become fewer and fewer. We experience dryness in our prayer and often find it a chore rather than a joy. If we are involved in the Church, we may begin to wonder if our efforts are making any difference. We may doubt that we are making any progress in the spiritual life at all. However, like a married couple, our faith is growing deeper and basing itself not on emotions but on a real commitment to Jesus, His word and His Church.

Today’s readings offer us stories about intense spiritual experiences and the hardships that followed them. .

In the first reading, we hear the call of Abram. In a mystical vision, God reveals Himself to the man who would be the father of the Israelite people.  God promises to make Abram the father of a great nation, though he is an old man. No doubt, this spiritual experience was very intense for Abram. However, it came with a condition. He had to leave his ancestral land to travel to a far off place where God’s promise would be fulfilled.  

This mystical experience, then, was followed by many years of traveling. He and his wife, Sarah, endured many hardships making their way from Ur to Canaan. They suffered famine, witnessed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and dealt with all the dangers involved in traveling in the ancient Near East. We also know how much God tested Abram’s faith, especially when He asked Him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. There must have been many times when Abram wondered whether he had done the right thing in leaving his homeland and he must have been tempted to go back. However, the mystical experience of God and His promise gave him the strength to continue. Through it all, Abram trusted in God’s promise. He did not always have intense mystical visions but, nonetheless, he remained faithful to God in his everyday life.

The second example comes from the gospel account of the Transfiguration.

Jesus invites Peter, James and John to join Him in prayer on Mount Tabor. It is an invitation they had probably accepted numerous times as they followed Jesus. However, this time would be different. Jesus is transfigured before them, Elijah and Moses appear, and the voice of God is heard booming from a bright cloud which overshadowed them. In the intensity of the experience, they fall to the ground, trembling with fear. In a privileged moment, they witness Jesus in all His glory as the Son of God. However, just as soon as it begins, it is over. In a short while, they are walking down the mountain with Jesus who is telling them to keep the mystical experience to themselves.

By showing Peter, James and John the mystical vision of His glory, Jesus was strengthening them for the hardships that would follow. Once they left the mountain, they would be traveling to Jerusalem where Jesus would be put to death. The disciples would have their faith tested as Jesus was arrested, dragged through the streets and finally put to death. They would wonder whether they had made a mistake in believing in Him and following Him. By showing them His glory, Jesus hoped to encourage them in their faith, to help them believe that He was in control and that He really would rise again in three days as He promised.

Unlike Abram and the disciples, few of us have been blessed with intense mystical experiences. However, most of us have sensed God’s presence in a particularly tender way at one time or another. We may have been overcome with a feeling of His care. In our prayer, we may try to recapture such moments, trying to recreate the experience which gave us so much consolation and peace. However, those experiences are a gift. God gives them to us when we need them. There is no way to repeat them. We have to simply wait until our Heavenly Father feels it is time to grant them to us again.

At the same time, we should not be looking for such intense experiences. They should not be the goal of our prayer. We should be thankful when they do come, but we should also remember why God gives them to us. He gives them to strengthen us in times of temptation, to encourage us in time of hardship and to remind us of His love when we are feeling abandoned or overwhelmed.

As we enter another week of Lent, we recommit ourselves to the sacrifices we have promised to undertake. They too will strengthen us to face temptation. When we begin to feel weak, when it seems that we cannot go on, when we are tempted to abandon it all, that is when we should call to mind all the gifts which our Heavenly Father has bestowed on us. Also, we should be quick to share with others the joy and consolation we have experienced in prayer and in good works. Our God stands with us, ready to give us what we need on our journey to everlasting life.

The Second Sunday of Lent

Saint John Vianney tells the story of a parishioner of his who, after Mass, would sit in church staring up at the tabernacle. He asked him one day, “What is it that you are doing when you pray?” The man answered, “I look at Jesus, and he looks at me.”

There are few definitions of prayer as simple yet as beautiful as that. Prayer, at its heart, is looking into the face of God, seeing his beauty, contemplating his love and allowing ourselves to be changed by his grace and power.

Because all of us are called to know and love God, prayer must be a part of our life. It does not have to be complicated or difficult. It is a simple matter of opening our hearts to God and allowing him to touch us.

Today’s gospel reading - the story of the Transfiguration - gives us some clues as to how all of us can grow in our spiritual lives. They are steps which we need to take in our journey of prayer. First, we must climb the mountain; second, we must look upon Jesus; and third, we must go  back down the mountain to tell others what we have seen.

First, we must climb the mountain. In today’s gospel, before revealing his glory to Peter, James and John, Jesus first leads them up a high mountain. Climbing a mountain takes a good deal of effort. There is always the danger of falling off a cliff or running into a wild animal. Also, it is very tiring because the higher one climbs, the thinner the air is and the harder it becomes to breathe. Peter, James and John must have wondered to themselves why Jesus was taking them on such a demanding hike. Whatever it was that Jesus wanted to show them or tell them, couldn’t he have chosen someplace easier to get to?

The apostles’ experience teaches us something very true and profound about the spiritual life. God does not reveal himself until we are willing to make the hard journey up the mountain. That mountain could be a sin that we have to overcome, an unhealthy relationship in our lives or sickness. Every difficulty and challenge we experience is an invitation from God to climb the mountain so that he can reveal his glory to us. Like the apostles, we may not understand why God has put those obstacles in our path and made things so hard for us. However, if we ask him, he will give us the strength to endure whatever may come. And, with time, we will see and be amazed by God’s mercy.

The second truth of the spiritual life which today’s gospel teaches us is that we are meant to see the vision of God. Unlike the apostles, we do not see Jesus face to face. How, then, do we get a glimpse of him in all his glory? The central and most important way is in the Mass. At every Eucharist, the Risen Lord is truly present in our midst. When the readings are proclaimed, it is Jesus’ voice that we hear. The bread and wine we offer are truly transformed into his Body and Blood. They are not merely symbols, but Jesus himself in his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. When we receive the Eucharist, we touch the body of the Risen Lord just as the apostles did, and we are transformed by him.

For that reason, the Sunday Mass is an indispensable part of our Christian life and spirituality. While it is very good to read the Bible, pray the rosary and contemplate the beauty of nature, none of those activities compare with the gift offered us in the Eucharist. While those activities can give us some insight into Jesus and his love, they cannot actually give us Jesus himself as the Eucharist does. There is no substitute for the real, life-changing encounter we have with the Risen Lord in the sacrament of his Body and Blood which we receive every Sunday.

The third truth of the spiritual life is that we cannot stay on the mountain. We have to go back down to witness to others the Jesus we have come to know.

The experience the apostles had of Jesus was overwhelming. It filled them both with awe and fear. Understandably, Peter does not want it to end. He wants to stay there, camping out with Jesus, Elijah and Moses forever. But Jesus does not allow it. The vision of his glory comes to an abrupt end, and he leads them back down the mountain to continue preaching the good news and healing the sick.

Many times when we are praying and feeling God’s presence all around us, we do not want it to end. We want to stay basking in the warmth of God’s love. That is entirely natural because we were created to praise God and never feel so much “at home” as when we are praying. But it is not enough. The spiritual life is never just a private affair. From worship, we must go into service. We have to bring the love of God we have experienced to others. We must come down the mountain and point out the way to encounter God to others so that they may share our joy.

The spiritual life is not only for priests, deacons and nuns any more than food and exercise are meant only for professional athletes. All of us are called to cultivate a deep life of prayer in whatever way suits our lifestyle, personality and calling in life. No matter what our individual prayer lives look like they will all have some characteristics in common. They will require us to climb the mountain of sacrifice and self-denial, they will lead us to gaze upon the face of Jesus and they will lead us back down the mountain to some type of service to our neighbor. All of these aspects of the spiritual life will revolve around the Mass which is the source and summit of our Christian life.

As we look upon the face of Christ, we will be changed by the vision of his glory and will begin to reflect that light to everyone we meet.

Mind the Pennies

There is a rule of thumb that is helpful in managing our personal finances:  “Mind the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.” In other words, if we are careful with our smaller purchases, we will have money in hand for big ticket items or for emergencies.

 

However, it is so easy for us to do just the opposite. We see something in the store we would like to have and tell ourselves, “It’s only five dollars. I can afford that.” Then we see something else we like and something else. Before we realize it, our wallets are empty. The purchases which seemed small and insignificant at the time, when added all together, turned out to be very expensive indeed.

 

The same principle - Mind the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves - is true of our spiritual lives. Jesus puts it this way in today’s gospel reading: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” In other words, if we make good choices in the small details of our daily lives, it will add up to a good and holy life. On the other hand, if we fail to do good when we have the opportunity or if we make bad choices because the sins we commit seem small and insignificant, it will add up to a sinful life. Like those small purchases that turn out to be very costly, those sins which seem insignificant can have a deep, corrupting influence on our consciences and souls.

 

If God has seemed distant to us and if our hearts have not been inclined to pray, we should ask ourselves if we have failed to be faithful in the small matters of our day-to-day lives. This is when a detailed examination of conscience can be helpful. Have we failed to make time to pray? Have we talked about others behind their backs? Have we looked the other way when someone needed our help? If we find our hearts growing colder and our thoughts leading us away from God, it could be that we are failing to attend to the small details of our life, and those choices are costing us our peace of mind and friendship with Jesus.

 

The good news is that just as cutting corners can get us into a rut, small steps in the right direction can get us out. It is not always necessary to make big changes in our lives to get ourselves on the path to reconciliation with God. We can often fundamentally redirect the course  our lives are taking by committing ourselves to making good choices everyday. It could be as simple as making time to call a friend who is having a tough time. It could mean going out of our way to give some money to a panhandler. Or it could mean getting up a little earlier in the morning to spend some time with God in prayer. They are small gestures which do not always require much time or effort. But they can go a long way toward training our hearts to be more concerned with the needs of others and our minds to be more aware of the presence and action of God in our lives.

 

A good example of the spiritual principle we are discussing is provided by Saint Therese of Lisieux. She was a young nun living in France who felt as though she lacked the talents of the other sisters in her convent. She wanted to know what talents she had that could serve God. One day, while reading the Bible she came upon a passage in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians which said: “If I have not love, then I have nothing.” It occurred to her that no talent or gift was as pleasing to God as the ability to love. She realized that love was her special calling. From that day forward she resolved that she would do small things with great love. Whether it was setting a table or sweeping the floor, if it was done with deep love, it would be considered a great work in the eyes of God.

 

Saint Therese’s “little way” teaches us something simple and yet profound about the life of faith. In the end, it is not really important what or how much we accomplish. Rather, what matters is how great the love we have shown to others is. We would all like our obituaries to be filled with the successes we had in life and the honors we have received. But the most important part of our obituary - what gives true meaning and dignity to our lives - will be the list of people we have loved and who have loved us. They will be the people for whom our lives made a difference. If we love, then we are living a meaningful and fulfilling life. And more often than not, our love is shown not in heroic deeds but in small, everyday acts of charity and kindness to those we meet.

 

Jesus has gathered us here today. He will show his love to us in a way that seems very small. In the form of bread, he will give us his body to nourish and sanctify us. It is a miracle of love that takes place on altars everyday all over the world. To those without faith, it seems to be an insignificant ritual. But to us who believe, it is the greatest expression of love the world has ever seen. And that love is directed to you and to me. We must now bring that love out into a world that has grown cold because it is only impressed with great honors and successes. We can begin to change that world through small tokens of kindness and generosity. It is possible if we give great importance to the small details and if we show great love in all things.