True religion involves whole body, soul of believer

Article 148 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series

Paragraphs 2095-2109

 

In the classic theological text “A Companion To The Summa,” author W. Farrell explains that there are Americans who hold strange and dangerous theories about the nature of religion. Some teach that religion was born of ignorance, and will disappear with the coming of knowledge. Others hold that “religion is a manifestation of fear, cowardice, and a desire to escape.” Still others look upon “religion as a sop for failure, an excuse for lack of accomplishment and drive, the opiate of the downtrodden keeping them satisfied with the unsatisfying things of life.” Some even belong to religious sects in which religion can be described as an emotional outburst, satisfying the side of human nature that escapes knowledge. Yes, for some Americans today religion is merely a matter of feeling and as varied and independent as the emotions of each individual (Farrell, III, 297).
 

Those who engage in such ideas described above are proponents of the worst of charlatanry. The truth is that authentic religion involves the whole person, including the emotions, the mind, the will, the imagination and the senses. In short, true religion involves our whole body and soul. When we hear it said that religion is born of ignorance or fear, or that it is the opiate of the poor and unfortunate, we can confidently say that such perspectives are erroneous. Those who cling to such opinions have missed the point completely. The greater point is that we are children of God, a God Who sustains us in our very existence; and because we are the best of God’s creation, we have an indestructible relationship with him. God is our creator and, in justice we owe everything to him. As the opening paragraph in this section of the Catechism attests, “The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity inform and give life to the moral virtues. Thus, charity leads us to render to God what we as creatures owe him in all justice. The virtue of religion disposes us to have this attitude” (ccc 2095).

We are told in the next section that adoration “is the first act of the virtue of religion” (ccc 2096). To adore God is to acknowledge him as “Master of everything that exists” (ccc 2096) and to acknowledge that we “would not exist but for God” (ccc 2097). Our adoration includes praising and exalting God in humility “as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name” (ccc 2097).
 

Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God; prayer, an expression of praise and thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God’s Commandments. “[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart” (ccc 2098). The Catechism explains further that regarding the offering of sacrifice to God: “it is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion” (ccc 2099). Then there are promises and vows: “Baptism and Confirmation, Matrimony and Holy Orders always entail promises. Out of personal devotion, the Christian may also promise to God this action, that prayer, this alms-giving, that pilgrimage, and so forth” (ccc 2101). The next paragraph explains, “a vow is a deliberate and free promise made to God concerning a possible and better good which must be fulfilled by reason of the virtue of religion” (ccc 2102).
 

“The Church recognizes an exemplary value in the vows to practice the evangelical counsels: ...within [the Church] many men and women who pursue the Savior’s self-emptying more closely and show it forth more clearly, by undertaking poverty with the freedom of the children of God, and renouncing their own will: they submit themselves to man for the sake of God, thus going beyond what is of precept in the matter of perfection, so as to conform themselves more fully to the obedient Christ” (ccc 2103).
 

The final theme in this section deals with the social duty of religion and the right to religious freedom. In short, “the duty of offering God genuine worship concerns us both individually and socially” (ccc 2105). Explaining further, the Catechism teaches: “the social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each of us the love of the true and the good” (ccc 2105). Why? Because, “Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church seeks to show the Kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies” (ccc 2105).
 

“This right [to religious freedom] is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables them to freely assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it ‘continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it’” (ccc 2106). “If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well” (ccc 2107).

“The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty; i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right” (ccc 2108).
 

Presently in our culture “religious liberty” as a civil right remains on shaky ground. Why? Because, as I heard it stated recently: “Disdain for vigorous religious convictions, especially the Catholic kind, is a virus that’s going around.” Whether considering outrageous claims leveled at faithful groups like the Knights of Columbus, or baseless accusations made toward a nominee for the Supreme Court, those who espouse authentic religion know that when correctly understood, it involves the whole person who is justified in proclaiming: “I enjoy every right under Heaven because I am a child of God.”
 

Father Hillier is Director, Diocesan Office of the Pontifical Mission, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum