Dear Parishioners, friends and family in Christ,

It’s fashionable today to praise “Spirituality” while criticizing “Religion.” People largely profess to be spiritual without claiming to belong to any particular religious institution. Although their reasons vary, it basically boils down to the perception that religion is oppressive and corrupt. 

About a month ago a young man from United States uploaded a video on Youtube, entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” (see Video). That video was an instant Internet sensation, drawing over 12 million views within just one week. Since then, many faithful and devout Catholics came up with some brilliant responses defending the Catholic Church (see Catholic Response Video and Fr Robert Barron’s Videos 1 and 2). I invite you to view them.

The Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, fully aware of the tendency to separate spirituality from religion, offered some key distinctions between the two:

“Private spirituality can be quite satisfying. But it can also become a designer experience. In fact, the word spirituality can mean just about anything a person wants it to mean. It’s private, it’s personal, and ultimately, it doesn’t place any more demands on the individual than what that person wants. 

Religion is entirely different. The word religion comes from the Latin ‘religare,’ which means to bind. Religious believers bind themselves to a set of beliefs. They submit themselves to a community of faith with shared convictions and hopes. A community of believers has a common history. It also has a shared purpose and future that are much bigger than any political authority. And that has implications. Individuals pose no threat to any state. They can be lied to, bullied, arrested, or killed. But communities of faith do pose a threat. Religious witness does have power, and communities of faith are much harder to silence or kill.”

The world longs to see God, and we are supposed to be the response. But we can often become a hindrance, rather than an instrument of God. Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, “If you don’t practice what you believe, you will soon believe what you practice.” 

So, what are you practicing in your life?