THE SEPARATION BETWEEN LIFE AND FAITH LEADS TO DEHUMANIZATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: IS 45:1,4-6; 1 TH 1:1-5; MT 22:15-21
http://www.universalis.com/20141019/mass.htm
“Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” These words have been used by different groups of people in different ways. For those who are in politics and fearful of the influence of religion on the people, they say that the gospel supports a clear separation of religion from politics. Those who are in religion and fearful of antagonizing politicians or the government, take refuge in these words of Jesus so that they need not be involved or obligated in any way to stand up for their convictions. But of course, this statement of Jesus is extended beyond politics, since politics to a great extent affect the economic and social life of the people. That being the reality, these same people also come to conclude that both religion and social life; religion and economic life do not mix. Thus there is a clear demarcation between life and religion.
As a result, religion is privatized and seen as something entirely irrelevant to life. It is no wonder then, that more and more people are becoming atheists, agnostics or free thinkers. If religion has nothing to do with one’s whole life, then it implies that God can be compartmentalized. And so we end up either with a redundant God or with more and more so called faith believers living a dual life. This is to say that when they are at Church, they behave like Christ’s disciples but when they are in the world, they act and conduct themselves like unbelievers. When we live lives of self-contradiction, unbelievers cannot but also conclude that religion is simply another out-dated ritual practice inherited from our forefathers. It must be abandoned, as it is a waste of time, since it does not really matter for our happiness in life. Hence, it is clear the separation between religion and life has led to unbelief.
Coming back to the statement of Jesus, then, we must really ask is that what Jesus really meant? Did He intend us to separate life from religion? Or has He been grossly misunderstood? In order to grasp what Jesus intended, then we must understand the context of Jesus’ response to the question of the Pharisees. The situation surrounding the question we all know is the attempt of the Pharisees to trap Jesus. They planned to put Jesus away or at least cause Him to lose credibility or confidence. By answering either way, Jesus would either incur the wrath of the Romans and the government but gained the approval of His countrymen, or vice versa. He would either then be charged for treason by the Roman government or for betrayal by the Jews.
Thus, the answer given by Jesus was to circumvent such a situation. The statement that we must give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; and to God what belongs to God would therefore mean that Jesus wanted to go beyond mere human politics. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: if it is true that we must give back to God what belongs to Him, then necessarily we must ask what is it that does not belong to God?
To this question, we cannot say that there are some things that do not belong to God. In fact, everything belongs to God since everything comes from Him. There is certainly no question of exclusion of anything whatsoever. After all, the kingdom that Jesus Himself proclaimed is not merely a spiritual kingdom nor a political kingdom but a kingdom that encompasses every dimension of life. It is a kingdom of love, justice, freedom and peace. This kingdom can only be realized when everything comes under the rule of God, the rule of the values of the gospel. This is adequately brought out in the scripture readings of today.
In the first reading from Prophet Isaiah, God made it clear that Cyrus’ conquest of Israel was possible only because it was permitted by God. God had chosen Cyrus even without his explicit knowing to be His instrument for His divine providence. Not only for Cyrus but for all human authorities on earth! Indeed, only Yahweh is King of all the earth. God entrusts all other earthly kings, governments and authorities with power and use them knowingly or unknowingly to promote His cause. God is the unrivalled and there can be no other gods besides Him. By implication then, even Caesar belongs to God. Like Cyrus, Caesar is called by God to reveal His plan of salvation in ways unknown to them. Hence, we must state emphatically that there is no separation between politics and religion. Of course, we must qualify ourselves in no uncertain terms that while the Church might have to speak out the truth and things that concern universal values for the good of the people, the Church certainly does not engage herself with any partisan politics or any political party as such. The Church is not a political party and we do not subscribe to any form of government since there is no perfect system of government or economic system in the world.
This intrinsic relationship between religion and life is also highlighted in the second reading as well. In the letter of St Paul, we are also told that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all. Because God is our Father, we are all His children. That is why, we are also told that in the gospel that Jesus was “not afraid of anyone because a man’s rank” means nothing to him; nothing because all are equal in the sight of God, and even if one has a special rank, it is because the Father gives it to him. So there is nothing to boast about who we are and what we have. So with people there is nothing to fear. They too are creatures bestowed with God’s blessings for a purpose. We need not be awed or be fearful of people who are rich, powerful and hold authority. After all, without God’s blessings and grace, they are also beggars like us. Rather we must fear God who gives all and can take back all. Instead of feeling great about oneself and one’s status or one’s wealth, we must feel humble and be grateful for the blessings that God has given to us so that we can use them for His divine plan. Indeed, St Paul makes it clear that this God who is Father must be manifested in the way we live our lives. He reminded the Thessalonians that they must show their “faith in action, worked for love and preserved through hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” We too cannot afford to live our faith that is not expressed in love and in hope.
The message of today’s scripture lessons should be clear: there is no dichotomy between religion and politics; between religion and life. Faith in God as our Father and in our Lord Jesus Christ permeates every dimension of our lives since everything is consecrated to God. There can be no area of life that can be compartmentalized in such a way that God is bracketed out of it. This would be a vain illusion. At any rate, a dichotomy between religion and life will necessarily lead to the dehumanization of man since man is made of matter and spirit. He has a soul since he is made in the image of God. Man, although created to be human, is also created to be for God and to be like God in many ways. Man alienated from God in his life will degenerate into a materialistic being and be reduced to the level of animals. He will become unfulfilled and groundless and aimless.
Indeed, a religion which is untouched by life and uninvolved in life can hardly be called a religion at all, since religion is a devotion of one’s entire being to someone who can command our total surrender. If God is to be God, then certainly God must be entirely present in all things. Without His presence in every facet of life, religion becomes a ritual, emptied of meaning and ineffectual to life. And with the absence of God in our lives, everything will lose its ground and purpose. There will be a loss of values since eternal values such as honesty, charity, and truthfulness are all grounded in God who is truth and love. Without God, there is no basis for morality at all, since everything is relative. Without God, there cannot be any total surrender to anything because it would mean surrender to nothing.
Thus, today, we are called to recognize that all of us have been chosen by God in some ways as Paul tells us in the second reading to be instruments for His divine plan. God chose us because He loves us and He wants us all to experience Him as Father and Christ as our Lord. To be chosen means that we are called to proclaim His good news to others, just as Paul was to the Thessalonians. But this proclamation is not to be done merely in words or rituals, but as Paul declared, it must be carried out with “power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction.” In other words, the Good News we proclaim must show itself as power to liberate us from our slavery and fear and aimlessness of life; it must be shown that the only authentic life is life in the Spirit; and that this life is lived in such a way that it is full of zeal and commitment both to God and to our fellow human beings.
This is the whole purpose of religion and faith: that we might live an integrated life, a life with God so that we can live a harmonious life with each other and be committed to the building of his kingdom of love, justice and mercy on earth as in heaven. Faith in God who is our life therefore is the overarching reality for such a kingdom to exist. If faith cannot give meaning to our entire life, then we can be certain that we are worshipping a false image of God. Such a God who has been domesticated and created in our own image must be purified so that the true God who is the Father and Lord of all, in whom all of us are called to imitate and be transformed into his likeness can be a reality in our lives. Yes, everything in life must somehow be seen in the perspective of the Gospel. The teachings of Christ must be the guiding principles of everything that we live and do. In this way, we do not live a dual life, a life of faith and our human life. There is only one life and it must be lived holistically if we are not to become a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a kind of split personality. Only a holistic way of life is truly a wholesome and godly life because only such a life can proclaim that God lives in us and we in Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
___________________________
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Catholic Spirituality Centre Singapore