“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Mk 15:34
The Cross is the great reminder that faith is not merely an exercise in spirituality. The idea of being spiritual but not religious goes way back to 2nd century gnostics, and expresses the thought that the body is worthless on one extreme; evil on the other. It is for this reason that the doctrine of the Incarnation is denied in Eastern religions and considered blasphemous in Islamic ones. If the body is inferior to the mind or the source of evil, how could God become human? How could an all-powerful God die on a cross? The mystery of the Creator entering into Creation as a Creature is fascinating and can only be explained as love.
In modern times, the spiritual but not religious individual, is perhaps less concerned with the body, and more interested in appearing “open-minded and inclusive” with the additional bonus of not having any requirements placed on him. Remaining agnostic allows one to avoid confrontations and not have to make decisions or take on responsibility. In many ways, this shunning of commitments is most profoundly experienced in the lack of marriages and children today. When put together, what the spiritual but not religious is really trying to avoid, is suffering. This fear is not misplaced, as being religious today, especially Christian, can not only cost you relationships and job opportunities, but your very life. Christ paid this price and more on the Cross, not so we could live without the cross, but rather so we could pick it up. “Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” said the Good Shepherd. Mt 16:24
When Jesus celebrated the religious ritual of the Passover meal in the Last Supper, He reminded everyone this was no spiritual or symbolic gesture with the words: “This is my Body”. Lk 22:19 It is through this religious rite of Thanksgiving, we call the Eucharist, that bread becomes the Flesh of Christ, and wine becomes His Blood. For the undecided, the Lord gave us another sign of the physical reality of this spiritual truth at Lanciano.
A priest once remarked that “demons are spiritual but not religious”, a play on words to be sure, given that demons are fallen angels and therefore spiritual beings, but containing a particular truth. After all, Satan himself believes in God, even quotes Scripture during his tempting of the Lord, but refuses to serve Him. This is why at Mount Sinai, God gave us not 10 suggestions or choices, but 10 Commandments. Many centuries later, the same God broke bread with His disciples and commanded us to “Do this in memory of me.” Religion is really the “re-ligare”, the reconnecting of God and humanity, and as the wounds of the risen Christ attest (Jn 20:26-27), it involves the resurrection of the person made up of mind, soul and… body. This we profess in our Creed.
Father Donald Haggerty in his thought-provoking book “The Hour of Testing“, suggests that the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ may be re-living the last week of Jesus’ Passion. Jesus was persecuted by the mob and political authorities of His time, as is the Church today. This is not new in Church history, but what is different is the widespread indifference, even hostility, to God, and the degree of control technology exerts on society. There seems to be a direct correlation between material well-being and spiritual poverty.
In addition, Jesus was betrayed by an insider, and abandoned by most of the other clergy. One does not need to look very hard, to find ecclesial confusion and deception in the midst of the Church, and many more have abandoned Her. The mockery of our Lord is now common and accepted in the land of the tolerant and inclusive (remember the Olympics). Our schools and even some parishes are adorned with a crown of alphabetic thorns. Our Lord the Saviour was asked on the Cross why didn’t He save Himself; today, the Church is asked if she’s loving, why doesn’t she love?! Love of porn, love of minors, love of adultery, and so on, after all, love is love. Imagine we applied the same concept to meat: Angus steak and barbequed rat… meat is meat! “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. Lk 23:34
We must remember that there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday, and our sufferings have tremendous value and meaning. Tertullian once said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”. He said this during the time of the harshest Roman persecutions. May we have the wisdom and courage to remain faithful to the Church as did our predecessors.
As a final note, the Cross was not the end for our Lord and will not be the end of the Church either. Consider the cry of Christ on the Cross in light of Psalm 22:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why art thou so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet thou art holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In thee our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 To thee they cried, and were saved;
in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man;
scorned by men, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me,
they make mouths at me, they wag their heads;
8 “He committed his cause to the Lord; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet thou art he who took me from the womb;
thou didst keep me safe upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon thee was I cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax,
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
16 Yea, dogs are round about me;
a company of evildoers encircle me;
they have pierced[a] my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my raiment they cast lots.
19 But thou, O Lord, be not far off!
O thou my help, hasten to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life[b] from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion,
my afflicted soul[c] from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of thy name to my brethren;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
all you sons of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted;
and he has not hid his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From thee comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted[d] shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live for ever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.[e]
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 Yea, to him[f] shall all the proud of the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and he who cannot keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
that he has wrought it.
St Joseph, pray for us.
Mother Mary, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Roberto Freire
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