I’ve been in a “discussion” with a Protestant friend, a very good man. We differ on so many points: faith alone, blessed assurance, church, priesthood – yet we are in agreement on so many more: morality, chastity, the divinity of Christ, the Trinity…
Recently our discussion turned back (as it always does) to the matter of authority. My friend (let’s call him Thomas) said the following:
I do not believe that the Catholic church is the absolute and only authoritative representation of Christ.
The reason? It carries too much added baggage. Rituals, images, co-redeemers, practices, requirements and on and on. There is no end there to what was so simply required by Christ. “Follow Me”.
If it is as you say, the “true and only church”, then I want no part of it nor anyone whom would would put that kind of burden on sinful people.
That’s just not the reason “He” came.
That gave me a lot of thought. Why do we have “the baggage” when all of the law can be reduced to two principles (Matthew 22:37-40):
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
That should suffice, right? But experience tells me that things which are simple when expressed as a principle are often complex in the real world. Take Einstein’s famous law of relativity. Expressed as E=mc2 it is the epitome of brevity, yet we are still unraveling its implications.
Our lives are filled with ritual and rules, from the morning coffee to greeting our neighbor to driving a car. The more important the occasion the more ritual. Yes, there are people who hold impromptu weddings on the beach, but the very lack of ritual tells you that they don’t consider the occasion to be of great importance.
For something as weighty as meeting the creator of the universe, there should be a substantial amount of rules and ritual. It’s not that God requires it, but that we require it, to set in our minds that this is something very special.
I understand the resistance to authority and regulation, but what’s troubling to me is the statement that even if it were the one true Church founded by Christ he would want no part of it because of the rituals and rules. I can’t believe he means that. Because if you truly believed that something was the will of God, does it matter whether or not it is burdensome or even silly?
What if Abraham had said “Kill my only son? I want no part of it nor anyone whom would would put that kind of burden on people.” What if Hosea had said “Marry a prostitute, and give my children degrading names? No way.”
Salvation history is characterized by just that – people who did what God told them to do, even if the task was burdensome, or even seemed meaningless or contrary at the time. We are not people who get to choose how to love God, we are required to love God.
Copyright 2014, Michael Lindner
Michael Lindner
Mike is a scouter, a science geek, a dad, a husband and a Catholic. He earns a living as a software engineer in beautiful New Jersey. In his spare time (ha ha) he muses at his blog What Does Mike Think? He is not a writer (which will be painfully obvious after reading his posts) but feels called to apologetics and evangelization anyway. You have been warned.
2 responses to “Rituals, and Why We Need Them”
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Time honored rituals are the one thing that connects past, present and future and gives a comfort of having a valid place in timelessness (eternity) that nothing else can do. The rituals we practice, especially liturgy, are the same actions that all of our Saints and Martyrs have also participated in. Could there be a stronger, more validating bond that places us within the body of believers and communion of Saints/
Time honored rituals are the one thing that connects past, present and future and gives a comfort of having a valid place in timelessness (eternity) that nothing else can do. The rituals we practice, especially liturgy, are the same actions that all of our Saints and Martyrs have also participated in. Could there be a stronger, more validating bond that places us within the body of believers and communion of Saints?