Room for Religion

Living our faith in daily life

 Luke 2:22-23, 38-40

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses,  They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

              I have a curious habit at meal-time that our parish staff loves to tease me about.  We often eat lunch together, and when it comes to dessert, I always leave one bite on my plate uneaten.  Eventually, someone got up the courage to ask me why I did that, and I replied, “It’s for Elijah.”  Obviously, that wasn’t a very adequate answer, so when they pressed me to explain, I said, “I thought you’d never ask!”  I went on: “The Jews have a custom of leaving a place-setting for Elijah at the Passover Meal.  According to tradition, Elijah will return to announce the coming of the Messiah at the Passover meal, and the Jews want to be prove they are ready for him.”  So, to show a little solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, I leave a little dessert for Elijah.  Just in case he comes at lunch time, I can say, “See, Elijah, I saved some cheesecake for you!”  Now, this practice also has a pragmatic, practical side: That custom constantly reminds me to leave a little room not only for Elijah but really to leave room for my religion.  It helps me remember that faith shouldn’t just be something we do for an hour a week on Sunday and then leave on the church steps and ignore for the rest of the week.  We should find room for our religion in our daily duties, even in our daily dessert.

             Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  I think one thing that made the family of Nazareth especially “holy” was that they lived their faith in lots of little ways every day; they made room for their religion.  For example, today’s gospel says: “When they had fulfilled the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.”  That phrase, “fulfilled the law of the Lord” is used 6 times in today’s gospel.  You see, the Old Testament contained 613 rules and regulations for Jewish life, all the way from washing dishes to how far to walk on the Sabbath.  In other words, Jewish faith was not a purely private matter just for the Sabbath synagogue, but something that was woven seamlessly into the fabric of life.  I’m sure Mary and Joseph set an extra place for Elijah every Passover, even though they didn’t have to: the Messiah was already sitting at the table for every meal!  You see, as the Holy Family “fulfilled the law” they made ample room for religion in their family life, helping them to be a holy family.  Holiness means integrating your religion into your whole life.

            Speaking of making room for religion, that reminds me of this Little Johnny joke.  One day a Sunday school teacher of preschoolers wanted to test their understanding of how real Jesus is.  So, she asked her class: “Where is Jesus today?”  Steven raised his hand and said, “He’s in heaven.”  Mary was called on and she answered, “He’s in my heart.”  Little Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know, I know!  He’s in our bathroom!”  The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response.  The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds.  Finally, she gathered her wits and asked little Johnny how he knew this.  Little Johnny said, “Well, every morning my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door and yells, ‘Good Lord, are you still in there?!’”  Now, folks, that is NOT what I mean about making a little room for religion in our family life.

            May I share with you the one criticism I consistently hear about Catholics?  This is probably the most scathing comment anyone could hear.  It’s that we’re hypocrites.  People say: Those Catholics party all week long, go to confession on Saturday, and file down the aisle for Communion on Sunday.  Now, we all know that’s not true: Catholics don’t go to confession!  But the rest of it may be true, isn’t it?  Now, obviously that’s a caricature, an exaggeration, but every exaggeration still bears within it a grain of truth.  The root of the problem is we have not made room for religion all week long, in little ways, observing all the customs and commandments of our faith like Jesus, Mary and Joseph did.

            Here’s a real easy way to see how much room you’re making for your religion in your life.  You can always tell what’s important to someone by how they spend their time and where they spend their money.  Take a minute today and glance at your calendar – how much time do you spend on your religion in a given week?  Then, take a quick look at your checkbook – how much money do you spend on your religion in a week?  Then, look at where you DO spend most of your time and money and that will tell you what’s MOST important to you; in other words, that’s what you’ve made room for in your heart.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that we very much needed the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s, but the reformers reformed the wrong thing.  There was nothing wrong with the way the Church taught, her doctrine, but there was a lot wrong with how Catholics behaved, how we lived our faith.  And that is true today.  I am convinced that if Catholics truly lived our faith – made room for our religion daily – the whole world would be Catholic!  Let me give you an example of one Catholic who’s doing that: Pope Francis.  He knows there’s nothing wrong with what the Church teaches, but we have a lot of room to grow in how we practice our faith.  Pope Francis doesn’t leave Elijah a bite of his dessert; he left Elijah his whole papal apartments when he moved out!  Is it any surprise more Catholics are returning to church, after seeing his example?  Non-Catholics now speak about the Catholic Church with more respect and reverence.

            Make a little more room for religion in your heart, by spending more time and money on your religion, and so people will stop caricaturing Catholics as hypocrites.  Maybe you can begin by leaving a bite of your dessert for Elijah.  But just make sure the room you leave for religion is not only in the bathroom.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!