ML Satyan –
From the Church history, we learn that the Catholic Church, in every country, has been promoting ‘devotions’ for many years. A predominant one has been devotion to saints. In order to promote this devotion, statues of saints are installed in every Catholic Church. It is sad to note that the initial objective of spreading the devotion got deviated in course of time. Commercialising this devotion by installing a ‘Collection Box’ near every statue has become a trend now.
This week I visited a Catholic Church in Coimbatore where I noticed eight statues of saints inside the church and two statues on the church campus. The church was conducting a novena to Our Lady of Good Health (Vailankanni Madha). Among the statues, I noticed three big-sized statues of Vailankanni Madha in three different locations inside the church. The devotees visited every statue, paid their respect, and of course dropped their money offerings in the collection boxes.
Now, a spontaneous question came to my mind: “What is the purpose of this practice – promotion of devotion or collection of money?” To find an answer, the laity and clergy need to come together, discuss, debate and do a sincere introspection. In this regard, I wish to quote a relevant anecdote.
“The priest announced that Jesus Christ was coming to church the following Sunday. People turned up in large numbers to see him. Everyone expected him to preach, but he only smiled when introduced and said, “Hello”. Everyone offered him hospitality for the night, especially the priest, but he refused politely. He said he would spend the night in the church. How fitting, everyone thought.
He slipped away early the next morning before the church doors were opened. And, to their horror, the priest and the people found their church had been vandalized. Scribbled everywhere on the walls was the single word BEWARE. No part of the church was spared: the doors and windows, the pillars and the pulpit, the altar, even the Bible that rested on the lectern – BEWARE. Scratched in large letters and in small, in pencil and pen and paint of every conceivable colour. Wherever the eye rested one could see the words ‘Beware, Beware, Beware’.
Shocking. Irritating. Confusing. Fascinating. Terrifying. What were they supposed to beware of? It did not say. It just said, BEWARE. The first impulse of the people was to wipe out every trace of this defilement, this sacrilege. They were restrained from doing this only by the thought that it was Jesus himself who had done the deed.
Now that mysterious word BEWARE began to sink into the minds of the people each time they came to church. They began to beware of the scripture, so they were able to profit from the scripture without falling into bigotry. They began to beware of sacraments and devotions, so they were sanctified without becoming superstitious. The priest began to beware of his power over the people, so he was able to help without controlling them.
And everyone began to beware of religion which leads the unwary to self-righteousness. They began to beware of church law. So, they became law-abiding, yet compassionate to the weak. They began to beware of prayer, so it no longer stopped them from becoming self-reliant. They even began to beware of their notions of God so they were able to recognize him outside the narrow confines of their church.
They have now inscribed the shocking word over the entrance of their church and as you drive past at night you can see it blazing above the church in multi-coloured neon lights.” (Source: The Prayer of the Frog by Anthony de Mello, SJ, 1988).
This story reminds us of an incident in the Bible. “It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. There in the Temple, he found men selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the money-changers sitting at their tables. So, he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of money-changers and scattered their coins; and he ordered the men who sold the pigeons, “Take them out of here! Stop making my father’s house a market-place!” (John 2:13-16)
In the story of Anthony de Mello, Jesus is presented as a soft and gentleman just conveying a “one-word message”. But the real Jesus presented in the Bible seems to be a violent and revolutionary person. His message was clear – “Do not convert the Worship place into a Business Centre!”. Jesus always spoke only about his Father.
- “But when you pray, go to your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.” (Mt.6:6)
- “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven” (Mt.6:9)
- “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do.” (Mt.7:21)
Jesus of Nazareth during his lifetime wanted others to follow him. He said: “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me.” (Lk. 9:23). That is what his followers did. In the course of time, Jesus has been converted into an “Object of worship”. Please note that when Jesus is understood as a person to be followed, he is not worshiped. When Jesus is understood as an object of worship, he is not followed.
Rabindranath Tagore tried to create an awareness on this matter through his poem:
“Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom do you worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open your eyes and see your God is not before you!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the path-maker is breaking stones.
He is with them in the sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off your holy robe and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
What harm is there if your clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet him and stand by him in toil and in the sweat of your brow.” (Gitanjali 11)
Many sages and saints always followed the mantra of BEWARE. Let the word BEWARE sink into every Christian. When we begin to BEWARE of everything, we will become better human beings, lead a meaningful life, make constructive contributions to the society and build an authentic church.