Going All In

Forming interior, intensive and international faith

02/26/2021

Matthew 5:20-26 Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

I remember once hearing Scott Hahn describe the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament using three words, and they all began with the prefix “in.” Protestants always come up with the catchy Christian sayings. Maybe that’s why they “catch” so many Catholics into their churches. In any case, those three words are “internalize,” “intensify,” and “internationalize.”

In other words, Jesus came to teach us in the New Testament how to “internalize” the law of God to change our hearts, rather than see our faith as merely fulfilling external laws and checking off the boxes. Jesus came to “intensify” our love for God’s law so we try to live it every second, and not just on Sundays. To intensify means to make our life intentional in everything we do. And third, Jesus helps us to “internationalize” our religion by seeing how its reach embraces the whole world and leaves no one out.

The more we meditate on those three words that begin with the prefix “in,” the more we catch the contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament, between Moses’ Ten Commandments and Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. To internalize, intensify and internationalize our faith means a Christian must be ready to go “all in” in order to follow Jesus.

These three words also help us see why Jesus and the Pharisees just cannot get along. Whereas Jesus wants to internalize the faith, the Pharisees only require external observance of the law. Jesus also asks the faith be intensified and intentional. But the Pharisees are experts in finding exceptions and loopholes. While Jesus’ perspective is international and holistic, the Pharisees are provincial and play partisan politics. For them, it’s always “us against them,” where someone is always  an enemy.

Put simply, the Pharisees demand a faith that is external, exceptionalized, and exclusive. Indeed, even the name “Pharisee” comes from the Hebrew word “parush” which means “separated one.” That is why Jesus says in the middle of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” The words, internalize, intensify, and internationalize, highlight how the contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees could not be clearer.

My friends, it is easy to point a finger at the Pharisees and point out their failures. But remember when we point one finger at others, three fingers are pointing back at us. Every Christian, therefore, must measure himself or herself by the standard of these three words, internalize, intensify and internationalize, and ask ourselves are we willing to “go all in” in our relationship with Jesus.

For example, is our faith life truly internalized, or do we attend Mass and say our prayers like the rosary merely going to through the motions? It is very easy for a Catholic’s faith to remain external and not change the heart. Second, how intensely do we put our faith into action? That is, do we seek merely the minimum or do we aim for the maximum? On Fridays of Lent we may eat lobster because it fulfills the letter of the law to abstain from meat, but that hardly touches the spirit. We look for loopholes and seek exceptions to excuse our laziness instead of living our faith intensely.

And third, our faith must become internationalized, which as you know is what the word “catholic” means in Greek. To be Catholic, therefore, is to be “universal” in our love for others, and leave no one behind. This can cause a real flashpoint between nationalism and Catholicism, which is inherently and instinctively international. Our love for our country and our culture cannot override our Catholicism. To internationalize our faith may mean we have to un-nationalize it sometimes.

These three catchy words can help guide us in Lent and for the rest of our lives. Constantly ask yourself: is my faith internalized, intensified and internationalized? And don’t worry, whichever of those three we don’t figure out here on earth, we will have plenty of time to do so in purgatory, from where “we will not be released until we have paid the last penny.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!