In the past few months, I have been noticing that lots
of ‘novenas’ and prayers of/to various saints, Lectio Divina and many other
structural devotions, laid out in text form or in video formats, are being
shared by a priest over a WhatsApp group in which I have been enlisted. Of
course, they are shared with the good intention of benefiting others in their
religious, devotional and spiritual journey. As part of the popular devotions
and piety, they are of help. Thanks to the despatches, the various video homilies,
readings, reflections and liturgical notes are of much help to others who have
access to them. Let me share with the readers, without any malice towards the
sender, my take on such devotional dispatches and on a retreat, he preached in
December 2022.
After attending a biblically-based retreat preached
by this priest, I did appreciate his strong memory in citing biblical verses,
some quotations from the Church documents (e.g., Canon law) and from the
Salesian constitutions. He has preached much in the past and the contents have
got into his memory, and so, he does not need notes and papers. Here are some
of my observations on his talks and their contents, for the readers’ personal
benefit and for the benefit of all.
The repeated mention of ‘all’, ‘always’,
‘everything’, ‘whole thing’, ‘every time’, in its absolute form, by this
preacher, to me, seemed to me to be false statement. The use of words – entire,
completely, never, all, everyone, all over, absolutely, nothing, not even one,
can never be, exactly like – are all absolute terms. One can never
absolutize an event or an incident, or a single idea or an opinion. They are
relative, subjective and a part of the whole – one among many.
Some of the contents of his talks were subjective
and coloured. Some of his statements lack objectivity, and are often mythicized
and mystified (e.g., God asking him to sanctify a place/room at midnight,
because of some one’s previous evil action committed there), exaggerated
and absolutized by the use of ‘should’ and ‘must’. We just do not know beyond
our personal human capacity.
He talked about the ‘transfer or the mirror effect’
of one’s infidelity on his/her family. Remember, God who is love, never
‘curses’ or punishes the family for one’s own sins. Certainly, the
‘cause-effect’ theory applies to any reality within the natural created world.
The speed and space with which he spoke did not
allow the thoughts to sink into the listener’s self. His exaggeration in voice
volume, its modulation, repetitions of ideas, long prayers, the speedy litany
of saints, dramatized, shouted out, and sometimes artificial, did not impress
me.
The Catholic Church prohibits ‘divining’ of future
events or tragedy, as done by a ‘lady’ (he never mentioned her name or
background) over the phone telling him that ‘number of souls are lost,
through wasting time by watching a movie in the theatre! In fact, CCC no. 2116
states: “All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to … practices falsely supposed to
"unveil" the future… interpretation of omens and lots, …. and
recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in
the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden
powers. They contradict the honour, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God
alone.” According to him, she (the lady he often spoke of) hears the “voice of
God” and tells him that there was “a cavity in the tooth”. God tells him
through her “when to go back”, etc. May be, he is, allegedly, influenced by
this ‘lady’, by her ‘lay piety’ or pietism. In short, this preacher is ‘guided’
by a ‘lady’s divination, which is forbidden in the Church. (e.g., someone
crying, a dead Salesian suffering in the purgatory for 18 years…..)
There exists lot of negativities in his talks:
judge, condemn, hell, Satan, devil, abuse, vengeance, sin, punishment, evil,
skull, coffin, death, ugliness of sin, danger, destruction, demonising human
action and failure, wickedness, miserable, worldly, grief, wretched, pitiable,
filthy, pathetic, unforgiveable sins, etc. He has used the word ‘devil’ many
times, besides talking of ‘sex, abortion, contraception, nuns, immoral
relationship, things of the world’, etc.
Thus, a negative narrative is created, hyping it, to make a mode to
propagate and market it. The repeated ‘babling’ on devil will only make one
more obsessed with it. The threatening and frightening approach do not help one
grow. No one can tell me: “no blessings of God will come on you”. No one has
the right to say so. Even God will not say so.
The ‘deposit of
faith’ that we talk about cannot be transmitted as it was (status quo)
formulated 1000 or 60 years back. Theology – the study on God – has gone ahead
far beyond our static understanding of faith-system. There is so much still to
analyse, reason, interpret and learn. We cannot justify our faith, suiting our
self-interest. Similarly, we need to contextualize the Word of God for today
through hermeneutic interpretation, and see what touches today most by reading
the signs of the time. Therefore, we need, to recognize and interpret the signs
of the time (primordial, perennial and episteme) in order to understand how
they communicate the loving providence of God and understand the language of
the Spirit, who speaks in different “languages” at varied times. Today, we need
to hear the Spirit in the cry of the poor and those abused (e.g., Indian women
wrestlers), in the groans of the sick and dying, in the discrimination on ethical
ground (Kukis in Manipur), in the frustration of stranded migrants, in
the protest of the oppressed, in the exploited ecological degradation, or in
the impulses within our inner selves. Out-smarting knowledge of the Word of God
(memorized verses) does not bring in salvation automatically.
The said preacher used many devotional practices as
part of his retreats. But I have this to say: hyper-devotional pietism of many,
can become superstitious practices; their habitual repetitions can ‘numb’ the
human conscious, blinding people from the present issues and realities. Such
‘opium’ can be truth-depressant, drugging the ‘believers’ into pseudo-devotion,
leading to a narrow-minded pietism. In fact, some of the devotional expressions
are designed to disguise psychological and physical realities. Such shadowed
expressions are promoted at the cost of conscience. It reduces faith and morals
to pious sentimentalities.
Using some Christian belief system, various types
of devotion to the saints or celebrations of pious-events, it is easy to
manipulate human emotions. An emotional “belief” expressed out of sentimental
pietism, can be extremely dangerous. It affects one’s moral and religious
growth negatively. The sacrificial love of Jesus on the Cross and his
resurrection, on the other hand, are a balance of a devotional and intellectual
life by witnessing to Jesus Christ who died on the Cross and rose. Unbridled human emotion, without critical
questioning, begins to drive the faithful away from the creation – the real
world.
God is truth. God is Atman, - the pure
Spirit, the formless-Beyond. The forms and shapes (physical, material) through
which the human worship God, are only means and methods. They are not the ends
themselves. God
does not want that people trample upon God’s truth in the name of ritual
religiosity or various practices of piety! Besides, detached from
context, culture and reason, the sentimental faith-expressions through such
devotional practices become ill-educated, arrogant, and vicious. Certainly,
popular piety does help live one’s faith.
But,
God says, ‘learn to do good, be just, redress the wrong and defend the poor’
(cf. Is 1:10-17). Jesus speaks straight, “whoever does
not take up his cross and follow after me (follow his ways) is not
worthy of me” (Mt 10:38). Pope Francis warns:
“Do not take refuge in a religiosity made up of
extraordinary events and dramatic experiences, out of fear of facing reality
and its daily struggles, its hardships and contradictions” (Lenten Penance and the Synodal Journey, 2023, www.vatican.va).
Therefore, pastoral discernment is needed within
the context of preaching retreats, animating groups and communities, or
promoting devotional practices, in order to sustain and support popular piety/devotions,
and to purify and correct the manipulative pietism
and superstitious sentimentalism.
And such discernment must be accompanied by
insights that come from the humanities and faith (faith and reason).
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