Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a Youtube video that is going viral these days. Jefferson Bethke is a young rap artist who has posted a video called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” Since he posted the video a month ago, it has gotten close to 19 million hits. Only four other videos have been this widely viewed. Bethke arguments are simplistic and we can easily punch holes in them. But the young people particularly are resonating with his trend of thought. Let me share some of the lyrics of his poem with you. He writes:
… if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean
It's not a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken
Which means I don't have to hide my failure, I don't have to hide my sin
Because it doesn't depend on me it depends on him...
... Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention
How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrum
See one's the work of God, but one's a man made invention
See one is the cure, but the other's the infection...
...Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see.
Even with the little that I have quoted it is easy to tear Bethke’s argument apart. But then, think about lepers in the first reading and the leper in the gospel reading today. There were two reasons why lepers were ostracized from society. First, it was to protect the rest of society from this very contagious and incurable disease. However, the second reason was perhaps more oppressive. The Old Testament made a strong connection between personal misfortune and sin. Tragedy and untimely death, they believed, was brought about by a person’s personal sin or the sins of their ancestors. Lepers were at the receiving end of such theology in the worst possible way. They were cut off not just from society but from their family and everything that makes human life meaningful. The leper whom Jesus met and healed was the victim of such an oppressive social and religious system. So when Jesus touched this man and healed him, Jesus was breaking all the purity laws of the time so that this man could experience liberation both social and religious. To this extent, Jesus was setting religion free from its power to enslave and making it liberating experience.
I want to offer you three points for reflection.
a)I think that Bethke is misinterpreting Jesus. Surely, Jesus was critical of the religious leaders of the time, their enslavement to law and their efforts to perpetuate the enslavement. In one place he calls many of the practices of the religious leaders mere human tradition. On the other hand, Jesus himself said that he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. In other words, Jesus was challenging the Jewish society to the liberating aspects of the Law by avoiding its meaningless observance. He condemned the senseless following of the laws of purification and religiosity that did not lead to conversion of the heart or to genuine love of the neighbor. So Jefferson Bethke is not completely unreasonable in pointing out that religion can become an enslavement rather than a liberating experience. The history of Christianity is replete with example. In the past people used the Bible to perpetual slavery. The Bible was also used to enforce the subjugation of women. In our time, how many Catholics attend mass because it is an obligation? People use the Bible to discriminate against people of other sexual orientation or people of other religious traditions. We need to be aware that just as the leper was enslaved because of social and religious laws, even today, religion has the power either to enslave or the power to liberate. If nothing else we need to be aware of the power of false religion and the meaning true faith in Jesus Christ.
b)One of the lines that I like from Bethke’s poem is “It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought the jersey….” So let us ask ourselves some deeper questions. Does going to church automatically make us holy? Does our political affiliation automatically make us righteous? Does our baptism automatically make us Christian? Does the fact that we receive communion make us worthy? Is my priesthood a passport to eternity? Is your baptism the ticket to heaven? Thinks about Jesus who goes beyond the demands of the Law and brings liberation by fulfilling the Law. Jesus is able to make his faith in God a liberating experience for those around him. Today, you and I are being challenged to go beyond the superficial. Those around us must experience our faith as a liberating experience. Jesus is our model.
c)How would you counter Bethke’s argument? If someone had to ask you, how is your faith in Christ a liberating experience for you, what would you say? How is our faith in Christ an experience of the freedom of the children of God? I did spend some time thinking about it. My faith in Christ is liberating because it gives meaning and purpose to my life. I am not enslaved to meaninglessness and despair that comes from lack of purpose. My liberation and meaning of life comes not only from what I can do (because someday I will not be able to do much) but who I have become in Christ. And I try to live that conviction with you, my Catholic family, who I believe is also trying to live your faith to the best of your ability. When we do this together we engage in the practice of religion. And hopefully what we celebrate together is not an expression of our obligation or fear of God or fear of punishment but the expression of sincere love of God and genuine service of neighbor. So I am inviting you to reflect upon your faith and your Catholicism and how it is a liberating experience for you.
Fr. Satish Joseph