Have you cleaned out your ‘fridge lately?
Though the refrigerator in the rectory is pretty much common property for the staff, Fr. Johnson and me, the bottom crisper drawer is kind of my territory – for things I use for cooking, and food that I don’t want Fr. J. to find and eat. So, as I was putting away some food yesterday afternoon, I noticed that one of my bags of greens had been there “longer than it should.” My question is: “Can you grow penicillin on kale?” I didn’t think so either. And, did you know that when you leave a lime in the back corner of a bottom shelf for say, a couple of months, it becomes pretty much a rock – small, solid, and able to be thrown throw windows with deadly effect. How can stuff that is so good go so bad, seemingly so quickly?
How does something so good, turn into something so bad is also the question with which today’s scriptures grapple. How can religion, which is such a good thing, faith, which is responsible for so much human flourishing, that helps so many people hope and hang on, go so bad? Those are the questions that faithful Catholics in the pew and even faithful priests are wrestling with these days. People in trusted leadership roles in the church have used their position in the church for their own selfish desires. Something good somehow turned bad inside and – tragically – what came out was anything but holy.
Today’s Scriptures give us at least three guiding criteria to evaluate our practices. If we are falling short in any of these three, then maybe it’s time to smell the milk, or lift up the lids on our leftovers, and clean out the fridge of our faith. From time to time, we each need to make sure that our practice of religion will actually nourish and feed and sustain us instead of making us sick.
The first insight comes from James’ letter. He says clearly, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only. Religion that is pure … care(s) for orphans and widows.” How can we know if our practice of our faith is healthy and good and nourishing? James says that it leads us to compassionate action – to actually DO SOMETHING for the people of this world – especially those on the margins of society. If we are putting our faith into action, then what we are doing is of God.
Secondly, in addition to being “doer’s of the word,” Jesus says that healthy religion also has to focus on what happens in our hearts, on our interiority. He says, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” And it is “from within people, from their hearts” that come evil thoughts and sin.” Faith must make our hearts bigger. An unhealthy practice of our faith focuses too much on the exterior, on how I look to others. When we walk down that path, we experience envy, arrogance, folly, greed, etc. – that whole list of attitudes Jesus confronts. Healthy religious practices on the other hand, open my heart to greater love, to greater sacrifice, to a willingness to be conformed to the heart and mind of Christ.
Finally, Jesus again focuses us on one of the values deepest to his own heart: that healthy religious practice is inclusive. He takes the Pharisees/all of us, really whose religious practices have become unhealthy to task, because these “human traditions” that we cling to all too often put us as the insiders, and others as outsiders: We’re good / they’re bad; we’re in / they’re out; we’re welcome/they aren’t. That is so far from Jesus.
So, today’s scriptures ask: “Do my religious practices:
ONE: lead me to concrete acts of compassion, especially for the poor and vulnerable?
TWO: make my heart bigger and lead me to focus on my own growth and call to change?
THREE: help me become more welcoming of people different than ourselves?
In ways that are uncomfortable, the doors of the refrigerator called the church are wide open these days. And there is a fair share of things that need cleaning out. We continue to pray for the victims. AND we pray that the Spirit will guide the church as we figure out what can stay and what needs to go to be faithful disciples/a faithful church going forward.
The practice of faith, like the food in the bottom of my refrigerator, can go bad. Or it can be one of the most transforming things of all. This week, may we have the courage to stand before the open door of our lives and practices and ask that simple question: Is it time to clean out the fridge?