To Be A Religious Person
To Be A Religious Person

To Be A Religious Person

What does it mean to be a religious person?

According to the YouCat (Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church):

“We can understand religion generally to mean a relationship to what is divine. A religious person acknowledges something divine as the power that created him and the world, on which he is dependent and to which he is ordered. He wants to please and honor the Divinity by his way of life.”

To paraphrase: “a religious person is one who is in relationship with God the Creator and remains dependent upon Him for divine guidance. Through this inspiration, such a person seeks to do His will.”

Do these words frighten us? Should they frighten others? Apparently, they do.

In our brave new world of do-as-you-please, the latest war against religious persons has found a new ground-zero. A chicken joint, Chick-fil-A, is where we have been told these zealots may be found. In order that each location may be found, GPS devices have been programmed and all-out frontal attacks have been planned across the fruited plan. According to the Los Angeles Times, “some gay-rights activists are planning a National Same-Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A whereby couples are encouraged to go to one of the chicken restaurant’s locations and take a photo or video of themselves kissing.”

With cameras rolling, you can bet that a religious person (we’ll call him a zealot) will be present. Amidst the affection, he’ll probably toss out some Sacred Scripture and remind us that marriage was ordained by God as between “one man and one woman.”

Furthermore, if the religious zealot also happens to be a Catholic, you might hear some dribble regarding Natural Law and the ends of marriage. Who knows, if we listen closely, perhaps he will also quote from a papal encyclical. Maybe this zinger from 1968 (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae) would fit?

Each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life. . . .This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act.

In the Gospel of Luke (1:5-17), an angelic voice stirs Zechariah’s spirit and offers him encouragement for that which is to come through the gift of prayer and Divine providence.

Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. John will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn their hearts toward their children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.

Day after day, Americans are reminded by the pundits that the loudest voices within society shall prevail. But at day’s end, I remain unconvinced. As man lies buried, he seeks a Redeemer. One came, I believe, and told us that He was “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

But who has time for Truth when a chicken joint filled with kisses awaits us?

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Written by
Deacon Kurt Godfryd