Don’t let your WHY get lost in the HOW

Good afternoon. My name is Deacon Jay Boyd. I’m currently assigned to Our Savior Parish out in West Mobile, and Fr. Christopher was kind enough to invite me to be with you all today. I met a few of you before a few years back, and I’m really happy to be here this evening. It’s always exciting to visit another parish, to experience the joy of the Eucharistic celebration in a different setting, to shake things up a little bit. New music, the way people line up for communion, different prayers at the end of Mass maybe, sometimes even in a different language — lots of little differences. I like it because it helps remind me that, even though things maybe aren’t done quite the way I’m used to, we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ — all worshipping the same Lord and Savior, the same God. And it’s really important to be reminded of that every once in awhile, because if we’re not careful, sometimes our WHY gets lost in the HOW. I’ll explain what I mean a little later.

Our readings today give us strong warnings against jealousy and intolerance. In the first reading, we see jealousy raise its ugly head in Moses’ young assistant and chosen successor Joshua. Moses was told to select 70 elders who were called by God to the Tent of Meeting to receive the Spirit and be ordained to minister to the people of Israel. When the Spirit came upon the men in the ceremony they began to prophesy in the Tent of Meeting. But two of the 70 didn’t make it to the ceremony, and when those two men began prophesying in the camp as well, Joshua strongly complained to Moses and wanted them stopped. He was jealous, envious of the two men because they hadn’t been part of the ceremony with Moses. They weren’t part of the select group. But Moses reminds Joshua that God can — and does — use whomever he chooses to do his will.

In our Gospel from Mark, we find similar intolerance among the apostles of Christ. The apostles want to reserve God's love and healing power to themselves as the "sole owners" and "authorized distributors.” John complains to Jesus that a man outside their group has been exorcising demons in Jesus’ Name, despite their attempt to stop him. They want Jesus to condemn him. Jesus responds with a lesson in what it means to be tolerant of others. Like Moses in the first reading, Jesus challenges a rigid understanding of ministerial legitimacy. He reprimands his disciples for their jealousy and suspicion and reminds them that doing good in the name of God is not limited to a special few.

We sometimes tend to forget that it seems. By nature, human beings are social animals. We seek out others and form communities, working together and supporting each other. Family, school, neighborhood, political party, nationality — each of us becomes a member of many different “tribes” over the course of our life. And for many of us, the Church is rightfully our cornerstone of who we are and who we are called to be.

As Catholics we profess to believe that the fullness of salvation can only be found in the one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We believe that baptized members of other Christian denominations are “separated brothers and sisters” to be supported in finding their way back to full communion. And we are called to be confident in our faith, to evangelize the world, and to help non-believers discover the Word, the Truth, and the Light of Jesus Christ. And yes, all of that is GOOD, and RIGHT, and TRUE. It’s WHY we are Catholics

Throughout scripture, we are called to have a zeal for God’s house, to honor and serve Him, and to protect His holy name. And as Catholics we tend to take this call very strongly. But it’s very important for us to strike a balance here. We sometimes tend to get lost in the minutiae, the practice of our faith, the HOW of our religion. We dig in, argue among ourselves, and condemn those who don’t agree with us. How painful it is to watch the bishops argue back and forth in the press about whether the President should receive communion. Or the ongoing debate about the Latin Mass, and whether it divides us as Catholics. Lots of loud, angry voices on both sides, confident in the righteousness of their position and unwilling to yield.

When we become so entrenched, so self-righteous and unyielding in our positions, we lose sight of the underlying Truth of our faith, our call to discipleship, the WHY we’re Christians. And even worse — our overconfidence in what we believe becomes a source for scandal. Intolerance has a long history in the Church, and Christians are still known for a spirit of intolerance. Ask the average person on the street what they think of Christians, and they’ll use words like "judgmental," "narrow-minded," "condemning," and "intolerant." When we reinforce those perceptions by our words, our actions, or our attitudes and cause non-believers, the unchurched, and those wavering in faith to turn away, we become the very stumbling blocks Christ condemns in our Gospel today. And woe to us if we are.

Christ reminds us that “Anyone who is not against us is for us.” The Church has no monopoly on God’s work, truth, love, or power to heal and reconcile — and neither do we. Like Joshua and the apostles, we become too focused at times on the HOW of our worship, rejecting ways to God that are different from our own. Rather than our differences, we need to focus on the universal truth of who we are called to be. The Truth of God’s love, the presence of Christ in our lives —the WHY of our faith — needs to be our guiding light. Because only by keeping Christ at the center of our lives — by keeping our “eyes on the prize” — can we be sure that our WHY doesn’t get lost in the HOW.