Rejecting Spiritual Minimalism

A Reflection on the Gospel of Luke 10:13-16, 6 October 2023

Author’s Adapted Image

 

    Imagine Jesus came to your town today, performing the same miracles He did routinely in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, calling all to repent and believe in the Gospel. What would happen? Likely, the reaction would be the same as it was in those ancient towns. Some would believe, more would doubt or actively oppose the Lord and cast dispersion. Worst of all, many would listen and wonder but then go back to their daily routine, responding with apathy. For them, there is nothing to discuss. Signs and wonders, if noticed, are passed off as, “interesting.” Many are simply too busy with the other details of life to care. Faith must never intrude into, “real life,” and so faith’s passion is suppressed, compartmentalized, moderated. CS Lewis in His book, the Screwtape Letters, has an elder demon counseling his young nephew demon on how to best keep people away from Salvation. In this, the elder demon lauds the merit of keeping people in a “moderated,” faith. He writes,

If you can once get him to the point of thinking that “religion is all very well up to a point”, you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all—and more amusing. (Lewis 46)

     Near Bethsaida Jesus walked on the water. (Mark 6) In Bethsaida, Jesus healed a blind man by placing spittle on his eyes. (Mark 8) Bethsaida is also associated with Jesus’ first miraculous feeding of the multitudes. (Luke 9) Jesus likely made his home in Capernaum after He began His ministry, teaching and reading in the synagogue and healing many. Yet we hear of no overwhelming lasting response. Though the events were miraculous, people don’t want a God who interferes with their lives. They keep faith, hence God, at a distance. Are we, the same? If so, woe to us!

     Have you ever wandered into the world of a lukewarm faith? For example, have you avoided discussion of faith or the teachings of the Church for fear of seeming to be overzealous and offensive? Ever hear the term, “all things in moderation” echo in the back of your mind as you consider telling others of the faith that burns within you, dousing the fire before it gives birth? Or have you followed the guideline that you should never discuss religion in polite company? Afterall, do you want to be labeled a Christian fanatic? In Jesus’ words, “Woe to you!” The people who most disappoint Jesus are the apathetic, the spiritual minimalist. Religion is never an issue for them. There is nothing important to discuss. Yet that is not what Jesus wants for us. In the Book of Revelation, we hear of God’s disdain of apathy,

I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15–16 NABRE)

     How often do we hear the words, “preach the Gospel every day and use words if necessary.”  It is often used to deflect a conscience that is urging us to proclaim the Gospel in words. That is spiritual minimalism! The Saints proclaimed the Gospel in word and deed. They were not religious minimalists. They are what the world might condemn as “fanatics.” Yet, that is exactly what the Lord wants of us, and woe to us if we do not embrace the task. St Paul writes,

If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! (1 Corinthians 9:16 NABRE)

     I just returned from a pilgrimage to the tomb of St James in Compostela Spain, walking the English path better known as the “English Camino.” We began our pilgrimage in London at Westminster Cathedral. There encased in a glass coffin was the body of a saint I had never heard of before, St John Southworth. St John was anything but apathetic about his faith. Defying Queen Elizabeth’s edict against Priests and the practice of the Catholic faith, St John, after ordination in France, returned to England where he served the people of Lancashire who were also suffering amid the plague of 1636. Despite the love with which he so courageously served the people of Lancashire, he was apprehended. It is said that the judge begged St John to deny his Catholic faith and so save his life. St John refused as it would be tantamount to denying Christ. It is said that the judge, with tears in his eyes, sentenced St John to be “hanged” and then revived, then while still alive “drawn,” cut open, pulling his organs from his body, and “quartered,” pulled apart. The sentence was carried out on 28 June 1632 in Tyburn London. Pope Paul VI canonized St John in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. St John is just one of so many examples of one who refused to be apathetic about Christ. Instead, fueled by the love of Christ and those Christ loves, live it in word and deed. St John, a fanatic? Perhaps. A Saint? There is no doubt!

     The Gospel today is a call for us to take the words of Jesus seriously. It is a call to renounce spiritual minimalism. In every situation of life, our Faith is who we are! We need to live that way.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. (Luke 10:13 NABRE)

     May the Lord preserve us from the sins of indifference, smugness, and pride. These attitudes cause the soul to turn away from grace. Instead, may the grace of God make of us open vessels of love, open and eager to proclaim Christ in a world lost in the greyness of fear and worse, apathy.

     St John Southworth, living eternally in heaven, pray for us!

Endnotes

New American Bible. Revised Edition (NABRE). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011. Print.

Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.