A Thought on Sunday

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius, c.p.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

ADDICTED TO DUST!

A little boy came home from religion class full of questions, “Mammy, is it true that we come from dust?”  Mammy was a bit taken aback by this question but she said, “Well, yes, I suppose you could say that.”

“And is it true that we return to dust?”  There is no end to a child’s questions!  And Mammy again manages reluctant agreement, “Well, yes, I suppose so!” 

But then she has a question of her own, “Why are you asking all these questions?”  The little lad answers, “Because I’ve been looking under my bed and there’s someone either coming or going under my bed!”

In our bright new residence, we have dark wooden floors and we have exactly the same problem!  Plenty of evidence of comings and goings!

For all the years on Ash Wednesday, we’ve been saying “Dust you are and into dust you shall return but the Lord will raise you up on the last day!”  And people turn out in great numbers to be told they’re dust and to have a wet blob of it put on their foreheads!  What would Jesus make of it?  Not much, I would think, because in the gospel on that day he tells us very clearly:

• When you give, do so secretly
• When you pray, make no big display,
• When you fast, wash your face!

Three times he tells us to do these good things in secret and “your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:18). 

And the dust display is only minor compared with much of the parading, the rules and regulations we have developed over the centuries.  Jesus, using the words Isaiah puts on the mouth of God, warns us, as he warned the religious people of his own time:

This people honours me only with lip- service
while their hearts are far from me.
The worship they offer me is worthless,
the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.  (Mark 7: 7)

It’s so easy, as we know, to go through the same religious routines, rattle off the same words, slap on the ashes, splash the holy water but our hearts can be elsewhere.  We complain if people are “all talk!”  Don’t we? 

We complain if they bring their work home or if they’re constantly on the phone when they’re meant to be with you.  They’re with you but they’re not with you!  Seems God doesn’t like it any more than we do!

When we come to mass or to prayer of any kind, it is better to have heart without words than words without heart.