Ritual v. Relationship
theophilus April 22nd, 2008
Sunday night, I went to one of Cincinnati’s large non-denominationals to hear someone speak. While I was waiting, I overheard a conversation between three members of the congregation who were sitting next to me.
One of the members is married to a Catholic who “insists” on going to Mass on Sunday and doesn’t want to go this particular church. She on the other hand is a cradle Catholic who occassionally goes to Mass with her husband but prefers this church. Catholicism just “doesn’t do anything” for her.
The couple she was speaking with had their own journey to this church but weren’t Catholic. As I was passively listening to this conversation (I wasn’t eavesdropping, I just couldn’t help overhearing), one of the non-Catholics asked a very poignant question – did the lapsed Catholic’s husband fall into the same trap as many Catholics? Did he sacrifice ritual for having a relationship with Christ?
And I sat there thinking - so, that’s what others think of us? They perceive us as using ritual as a crutch instead of having a full-blown relationship with Jesus. And, I guess the question is – do we?
I know my answer to this question – I believe I take the body and blood of Christ physically within me each and every Sunday and sometimes on Friday. He becomes a part of me and I become a part of him. I believe he is walking with me every moment of every day. I believe he loves me so completely that at times his love overwhelms me. I believe he heals me when I go to him through Reconciliation and that I am made anew. I believe that he gives me the protection and patronage of his own mother so that she is my mother as well. I believe that he gives me the saints to emulate and the angels for protection. I believe he is speaking directly to me when I read the scriptures and the other spiritual writings that have been handed down to us over the past two-thousand years.
I have a conversation with Christ everytime I pray the rosary, my daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours. I know I am in His presence when I go to Mass, Eucharistic Devotion or just pay him a visit in the Tabernacle. And there is something mystical and beautiful about knowing that how I worship is the same throughout the nation and throughout the world. That I can walk into any Catholic Church in this vast world and feel right at home. And I know that it was this way a thousand years ago and will be this way a thousands years from now.
Is my relationship with Christ intimate enough? Or am I just focused on the ritual?
And that’s why I lament our fellow Catholics who have gone away. They are seeking an intimate relationship with Christ but you can’t get much more intimate than the Real Presence, with being physically in his presence through Holy Communion and Devotion. You can’t get much more intimate than having a relationship with his mother or those of us who have given their lives to him in service. You can’t get much more intimate than knowing that you are part of a flock that encompasses all peoples and the ages.
Yes, there are rituals – but the rituals are meant to bring us into a more intimate union with Christ – heck, not a “more” intimate union, the “most” intimate union.
And it is sad that many Catholics cannot find this intimacy - and they either go through the motions or leave altogether.
Last week, we were reminded that our faith and the Church is special. What other religious leader could command such respect and attention? The Holy Father reminded us that this Church is something real, something eternal.
I just hope that lapsed and detached Catholics were paying attention last week (and I know that some were) and that the Holy Father reawakened in them the need to have this intimate relationship with Christ – an intimacy that can only be found in the one, true, Catholic and apostolic Church.
- Eucharist , Faith , Jesus , Mary , Mercy & Forgiveness , Pope , Prayer , Renewal
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