Today’s readings: Ecclesiasticus 35, 12-14.16-19; 2 Timothy 4, 6-8.16-18; Luke 18, 9-14.
According to a recently published report by the European Commission on tax evasion by individuals, Malta ranks in a top position on this plague. This says a lot about us, especially when it is coupled with another first that Malta holds in the EU, namely, that of Mass attendance. The two firsts are very contradictory, and together depict very clearly the type of religion that characterises this country and this people.
This calls for a deep and honest revision of what our religiosity truly stands for, very much in line with what Jesus is addressing with today’s gospel parable. It is the parable about two people in the Temple, one full of himself and parading his religiosity, the other a contrite tax collector asking for God’s mercy.
It has now become commonplace for us to interrogate ourselves on our religiosity as a people and I am not at all inclined to enter some sort of self-castigating attitude. We all acknowledge the benefits that religion bestows on the life of a nation. But as a Church and as individuals, we are all accountable to God and society alike if we are being suicidal where the transmission of the faith to the emerging generations is concerned.
Back in 1963, the Anglican Bishop of Wollwich, John A.T. Robinson, published his controversial book Honest to God, rejecting the idea of ‘God up there’ and claiming that we need to be alert to the God who manifests Himself even outside the confines of religion or Church. We need to be honest and ask ourselves: what legacy of faith and belief that truly makes sense in today’s mindset are we leaving to today’s and tomorrow’s generations?
The first reading from Ecclesiasticus today says a lot in this regard. It is with the heart, not with lip service to traditions, that we are called to serve and worship God. It is the humble prayer that “pierces the clouds”, not the liturgies, solemn as they may be, that smack more of exhibitionism rather than a worshipping heart.
Our situation today is metaphorically yet powerfully depicted in the second reading with St Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul is aware of his approaching end, and that, having fought the good fight, he has kept the faith. Yet he felt disappointed because he was deserted, with no witnesses coming out to support him when it was needed.
How can we defend our faith today in a culture geared on self-fulfillment and greed, in a society where, religiosity apart, we seem to have given in on all the arguments which up to recently we thought articulated our faith and were the backbone of our religion? An immigrants’ riot suffices to belie the exceptional generosity that we always seek to make believe is our trademark as a nation. The same goes for the venom many are capable of posting online day after day on whatever issue crops up.
We have perpetuated a religion exclusively built on sexual morals and lip service to traditions, the same type of religion represented in today’s gospel by the Pharisee but condemned as meaningless and out of sync by Jesus. It is the type of religion which no longer holds ground with so many who are disenchanted with the Church they belong to and with what it perpetuates.
The gospel parable speaks clearly of a two-track religion – one outdated and no longer able to connect with God, the other a religion that is healing and that provides solace to daily living. We may think that to some extent the choice is in our hands. But that is not the case. Whether we still need our religion or we’ve outgrown it will be decided for us if we are all overwhelmed by whatever we experience daily in the times we live in.