True Religion

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Sunday of 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, August 29th, 2021
Texts: Deut. 4:1-2.6-8; Ps.15:2-5;  James 1:17-18.2 lb-22.27; Mark 7:1-8.14-15.21-23
What touches me most in today's gospel reading is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ,  "in vain do they worship me". That word of His weighs heavily on my heart. To worship God in vain is to worship God without profit, without the reward due to the worship of God. If inspite of our worship of God here on earth we end up in hell, then we have worshipped God in vain. What is the reward due to the worship of God, if not salvation, sanctification, eternal life, happiness forever, peace, heaven, etc? If we worship God and we are still far from all these things, then we have worshipped God in vain. I believe we can tell now if we have worshipped God in vain.
We worship God with profit, that is, enjoying the rewards due to the worship of God, if we worship Him in spirit and in truth (). In today's second reading, St. James calls it true religion. This means true religion is the worship of God in spirit and in truth. St. James says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." True Religion entails being good to one another and holiness. Holiness is the dedication of oneself to God, which is the keeping of oneself unstained from the world. To say you are holy is to say that your concern is not about this world but God.
Today's Readings tell us what make true religion. One of the things that make true religion is the keeping of God’s commandments in all its purity.
We must maintain the purity of God’s commandments if we are not to worship in vain. Do not walk around the commandments of the Lord. Do not bend it. It is not for self-defence, arguments or justification of our desires. It is the truth; it is perfect. The wise says, "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar" (Prov. 30: 5-6). God told Jeremiah thus: Speak to them all the words that I command you; do not hold back a word (26:2c). In the psalm it is said, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring  forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether" (19:7-10). The commandments of the Lord must be kept pure at all times. Today, in the first reading, Moses speaks to us thus: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." When we walk around the commandments of God or bend them, we no longer keep the commandments of God but ours, which we have clothed in the garment of God's commandments.
 Another thing that make true religion is the doing of God's commandments. Moses says, "Keep them and do them". St. James tells us in the second reading thus: "Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." We are not to keep them only but do them, that is, practice them. We are not to be hearers only but also doers of the words. We are to be the doers of God's commandments in all its purity, not in its corruption. Doing the corrupted commandments of God is worshipping God in vain. When we do the commandments of God in all its purity, we will be just to one another, help the widows and orphans.
Another point emphasised in the gospel reading is the purity of heart. Jesus says, "This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." Our hearts must be with God. When we dedicate ourselves to Him, our hearts will be with Him. This means our concern should be about God, not the world. The world should be our concern as it relates to God; we are to value the world in relation to God.
Our hearts must be kept pure always. The wise says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put a way from you crooked speech, put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward and gaze be straight before you. Keep straight the path of your feet, and your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil (Prov. 4:23-27; cf. Ps. 1:11-13). To keep our hearts pure we must avoid impure talks and speech; we need to be mindful of what we see, look and watch; we need to be mindful of where we go, our company, association and gathering: we are to avoid the occasion of sin.
Keeping the commandments of God gives wisdom and wins us life and our inheritance. Hence, Moses says, “Now, O Israel,  give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you. ... Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." Some Christians are living a low life because they have abandoned true religion. Some Christians are bereft of salvation, sanctification, eternal life, happiness, heaven because they have abandoned true religion. Some Christians lack wisdom because they are no longer walking the path of true religion. Those who walk the path of true religion bear its fruits: salvation, sanctification, eternal life, happiness, heaven.

God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Amen. (Today's colect)

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke