22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 1, 2013
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
People have different opinions about board games. Some families and individuals really enjoy them; they think that it brings them together and is a great pastime. Others take the opposite opinion and will even purposely mispronounce them as bored-games. Our religious community can go either way on the issue, but we do have one game that we universally enjoy called “Is the Pope Catholic?” This is a Catholic nostalgia game which allows 6-7 players to attempt to become Pope for a day.
The object is to get your piece around an obstacle filled rosary path by using your knowledge of the Catholic faith, creativity, and a little luck. Many of the cards used during the game poke fun at the good-old-days in Catholic school. One such card speaks about a student getting in trouble and being punished by St. Mary of Perpetual Genuflections. Naturally, this is humorous because before the close of the 2nd Vatican Council in 1962 there was a much greater emphasis on discipline in Catholic school and reverence.
Approaching Mt. Zion
Yet, reverence for God and “the things of God” is never anything that we should characterize as old fashioned. The second reading today expresses the awe and reverence that we should have when approaching “…Mt Zion and the city of the living God.” This reading is taken from the book of Hebrews which was written either by St. Paul or one of his close followers. It expresses strongly the “awe” which the Jewish people in the Old Testament had when they came before the Holy of Holies and other sacred objects.
For St. Paul the sense of reverence that we should have toward God did not change with the coming of the Messiah. In fact, Jesus fulfills every aspect of the Old Testament. The Holy of Holies contained the Books of the Torah, but we have within our churches the very Body and Blood of Christ. Along with this, we are given six other Sacraments to lead us to intimacy with God our Father.
Giving justice to God
At Confirmation each one of us was sealed with the gift of piety. Piety is not just looking holy or being quiet in Church. It is so much more than this!! Piety has to do with giving justice to God and others. This gift enables us to have sincere affection and devotion to God. This gift is given to us by the Holy Spirit, but should also develop in us as a habit throughout our lives. Practically it has to do with showing respect to the Sacraments, the Church, and those persons or things consecrated to God. As a result of this, the Church still asks us to genuflect when in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. However, we are not as strict about how this is done as fifty years ago. Sister will not be holding the ruler up to your back to ensure that you have perfect posture as you go down on your right knee!!
A piety shown to others
Seriously, though, piety does not only have to do with things in the Church building. We can and should be growing in our respect for each person, who is created in the Image and Likeness of God. This is a fruit of the gift of piety called chastity. We recognize that each person has a very special dignity and should be treated with piety. This, of course, has to do with “the poor, cripples, the lame, the blind.” Like Jesus we show a special love for them. Also, with God’s grace we can grow in piety toward the gift of sexuality.
Today it seems that sexuality is treated as something casual or almost a recreation. The sacredness of the person is lost. The entertainment industry seems to be pushing the envelope each year to allow for more and more sexually explicit material. In April of this year the FCC announced that they were considering allowing “full frontal nudity” during hours when children will be watching. No wonder we hear of shocking things happening at awards ceremonies. The more casual view of nudity and sexuality didn’t begin yesterday, but has been progressing for some time. Our culture has come to a point of a serious loss of the sacredness of the human person and the gift of sexuality.
Seeing their dignity
We, though, as Catholic Christians have been given the Gift of Piety to aide us in this struggle. We can, with God’s grace, grow in our ability to see each person as the Image of God. It really means bringing prayer and God into each relationship that we have. In this way we change the way we look at others and help them to see their own dignity. It all begins with the Holy Spirit who gifts us with piety or the ability to reverence God in all things.