We have been hearing from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. I had mentioned in a homily last week looking at this letter that Paul was warning this Christian community of the danger of not having our Lord Jesus Christ as the center of their faith, of replacing Christ as the center of their faith with a cosmic image of faith, of mystical visions and ecstatic experiences. Some in that community saw themselves as being on a higher spiritual plane when compared to the others because of these mystical visions and experiences of ecstasy. I can say that I have had what I would describe as experiences that fall into the realm of mysticism, but those are rare and the exception to the way I live out my faith daily. Those mystical experiences as gifts from God that come to us, but that are not to be the end goal of our faith.
I have also told parishioners that a mountain top experience is not to be the norm of our faith as well. Going on pilgrimage on the Camino in Spain is such an amazing part of my faith, but part of the reason that makes it so special is that it is not my daily experience. I remember having some conversations with some youth and their families in Tupelo. They were saying that they hated Mass - yes they used the word “hate” believe it or not. They found the homily and the Scripture readings in Mass boring. And to be honest, both the youth and the adults rarely even came to Mass, not even once a month. But, the youth said that they loved the trips in the summer that the youth group took - to them, that was what their faith should be about. Prayer and Mass and reading Scripture are not entertainment, but it seems like that is what some of the faithful expect some days.
What does our faith mean to us? What are we looking for on our journey of faith?
No comments:
Post a Comment