Religion of the heart

The sprouting of sects in Europe and other parts of the world after the second world war and their efficient proselytising methods should make one stop and think. Many Christians have found themselves trapped by the cunning and sometimes aggressive methods of some of these sects. How can one explain all this?

According to some Catholic sociologists, it is a sort of protest against the so-called schizophrenia in the way of life of many Christians or, as they put it, against the contrast between what one might call Sunday Christianity and Weekday morality.

This phenomenon is in fact as old as humankind. Each religion, whether Buddhism or Islam or practically any other religion, is manifested through the observance of a number of rites and prescriptions which can easily predominate against their whole purpose and the meaning behind them.

Such was the practice of Judaism in Our Lord's time. Hence Jesus' strong words against the Pharisees that we read in today's Gospel: "This people does me honour with its lips, but its heart is far from me!"

Christ is known for his meekness and kindness of heart. He could show untold patience and endure opposition and all kinds of suffering without saying a word. One thing he could not stand: lack of sincerity, double-faced dealings, hypocrisy. But whom did he have in mind when he pronounced these words?

First of all he had the Pharisees of his time in mind. They were the so-called doctors of the law, who cared about the letter of the law and its minutest prescriptions but gave secondary importance to the spirit behind the law. As a result they were totally uninterested in the real needs of the people and claimed they had a right to a good place in heaven.

Secondly, Jesus had in mind today's legal-minded interpreters of the Word of God and of His divine law. These are often overly strict in their moral judgments, attaching greater importance to the letter of the law than to its spirit, or judging as grave sins actions that in the actual circumstances may be only light sins or none at all.

Such persons, as they say, claim to be more Catholic than the Pope. If we are honest enough, we should perhaps admit that even we priests sometimes belong to this category and should reflect carefully on Christ's words on this occasion.

The third category of people whom Jesus must have had in mind on this occasion are ourselves and the Christians of all times. We often claim to be good people and often take a better-than-thou attitude in our judgments and behaviour vis-à-vis our next door neighbour, while in reality we may behave just like anybody else or even worse. God is not impressed by the façade of goodness we may be able to show, or by screens of piety behind which nothing of value exists.

The Spirit of Jesus Christ blows in the Church and on the whole world to delete from our way of thinking and behaving all that is legalistic, but not in accordance with the law of love, which is basic and so typical of Christianity. It is the law of the heart that is supreme.

"God is love, and who abides in love abides in me," says Christ to his disciples in St John's Gospel. God has no adding machine to keep account of the number of our failings, so long as we ourselves condemn them, but He does have a powerful lens, which enables Him to look deep into our hearts.