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The Unauthorized Homily By Bill Dunn A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary |
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(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 13th: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29) FAVORITE SISTER RAISES DIFFICULT QUESTIONS A few weeks ago I received an email from my favorite sister. (And she’s not my favorite sister just because she’s married to my boss.) For discussion purposes, let’s say her name is “Kate.” In her email, “Kate” said she had been talking with a friend, and again for discussion purposes, let’s call this person “Rose.” Anyway, “Kate” and “Rose” were lamenting the fact that so many folks in their parish are apathetic about practicing religious faith. People in their church make comments such as, “You don’t have to go to church every week to be a good Christian,” and, “All they ever do is ask for money…money to settle lawsuits against the priests, ha ha.” My sister asked if I had any ideas of how to respond to these kind of negative statements, and if it’s possible to get people to change their attitudes so they will want to go to church. I quickly replied to her email with some words of encouragement. I wrote, “How the heck do I know? What do I look like, the Pope?!” (No, just kidding. I would never reply in such a sarcastic way to someone who is not only my favorite sister, but who also can be a major influence on whether or not my boss is mad at me.) Her email was quite timely, as we’ve been dealing with similar issues and attitudes in my parish. For example, back on Palm Sunday my pastor was telling the congregation about the special Mass to be held on Holy Thursday, and he asked the question, “What sacraments did the Lord institute at the Last Supper?” Nothing but blank stares. After a pause, he said, “You know, ‘This is my body. This is my blood.’ C’mon, what sacrament is that?” Again, nothing but blank stares. Now, I’m not sure if people were taken by surprise and did not realize the homily had turned into a Q & A session requiring a verbal response, but nonetheless the awkward silence was quite discouraging. Speaking of Q & A, “Kate” suggested in her email that I use a Q & A format in this “Unauthorized Homily” to answer some of the negative statements and questions she and “Rose” have been hearing. Well, for two reasons, I’m not sure that would do any good. First, very few apathetic Christians bother to read these essays (the exact number is zero. The exact number of non-apathetic Christians who read these essays is nine, including “Kate” and “Rose”); and second, specific answers to specific complaints won’t do any good because the problem goes much deeper. The true problem can be found by looking at the best Q & A of all time, the old Baltimore Catechism. One of the questions asked, “Why did God make you?” And the answer was, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” The problem of apathetic parishioners in our churches today is due to the fact that many people, when they consider the question, “Why did God make you?” truly believe the correct answer is: “God made me to be happy…right now!” Although at first glance this might seem like an acceptable answer, it really has monumental implications. For example:
The key concept here is “want” vs. “ought.” For countless generations people clearly understood that there is a huge difference between “This is what I WANT to do,” and “This is what I OUGHT to do.” The “want” urge is almost always selfish, impulsive, and short-sighted. The “ought” idea, on the other hand, recognizes that we have a duty and obligation and responsibility not to be selfish. Instead, we must at times exercise some discipline, and sacrifice our urges for the good of others and society. You’ll notice that the key words in the “ought” description—duty, obligation, responsibility, discipline, sacrifice—are the exact ideas that are routinely mocked in our modern day culture. This is due to the fact that today we have merged the “want” and the “ought.” People truly believe there is no difference: “This is what I WANT to do, therefore it is what I OUGHT to do.” No difference. The sad and ironic aspect of this situation is that our modern society, so relentlessly focused on achieving personal happiness, is, on the whole, one of the most miserable societies in human history. Countless people require psychiatric counseling. Many others are gulping anti-depressants like they were Tic Tacs. The suicide rate is frightfully high—especially among the wealthy and successful. And untold millions wander through life like zombies, wondering why yet another binge of food, sex, alcohol, or shopping only makes them feel even more empty inside. As I’ve written in the past, the best way to be happy is to forget about happiness and instead focus on doing God’s will. Happiness is not a goal. It is a by-product of doing the right thing—of doing the “ought” instead of the “want.” It would be nice, as “Kate” asked, to type out a bunch of simple questions and answers to explain to people why they should be involved in their local parish and excited about religious faith. But as long as far too many people think the heart of Christianity is, “My will be done,” a Q & A lesson will be similar to trying to teach algebra to hamsters. It will make no sense at all. I’m sorry, dear sister “Kate” (and “Rose”), this problem requires a much more radical and fundamental solution. Oh, by the way, if you haven’t guessed by now, “Kate” is my only sister—but trust me, she is definitely still my favorite. ©2007 |
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