Faith by Numbers
Today’s Gospel picks up where yesterday’s left off with Jesus being challenged, even condemned, for working on the Sabbath because he healed someone. This makes me think about the common distinction between the spirit and letter of a law. It seems clear to me that Jesus was far less concerned about the letter of the law than the spirit of the law as he often highlighted the importance of what was in one’s heart, their overall orientation towards or away from God, and with that the rest of creation. Today’s Responsorial Psalm “The Lord is gracious and merciful” seems to urge us to not fall prey to an overly strict legalistic approach. Yes, have laws but be gracious and merciful to each other as God is to us.
This push and pull and Jesus’ focus on grace and mercy often strikes me during Lent as Lent often becomes a time where Catholics focus on the legalism of fasting with discussions on what “counts” as meat or fasting, giving something up for Lent, and if Sunday counts as a “cheat day” where one gets to indulge in whatever it is they gave up for Lent. I found myself reflecting on this well intentioned legalism vs spirit while walking my dog the other day.
This year for Lent I took on the challenge of picking up extra dog poop once a day while out walking my dog. In essence I’m trying to give up the irrationally intense anger I get when seeing dog poop that others’ haven’t picked-up - and that I inevitably inadvertently step-in - by picking it up myself. The intent is to soften my heart, be more gracious and merciful, and be part of the solution rather than letting anger stew. Well, the other day as I was picking up after my dog there was another dog’s business sitting nearby so I went to grab it to continue my Lenten promise but it was Sunday, the widely regarded day where we’re not obliged to maintain our Lenten fast so should I have left it there and broken my lenten fast by getting angry?
Had I left it there I would not have broken any of the rules of Lent but would I have truly been fulfilling the spirit of Lent?
What is the spirit of Lent? Is Lent faith by numbers and religion a faith kit? To me, legalism is to religion and leads to creating people of faith like paint by numbers is to art and creating artists or meal kits is to cooking and creating chefs. Paint by numbers reliably produces a pretty watercolor and meal kits reliably result in a pleasing meal. They both have their place and help immensely in training the basics, developing good habits, and ensuring a baseline is met but most would not call the respective producers a true chef or artist.
This relates to another point in today’s gospel, the requirement of doing good deeds and the ensuring arguments between faith and works. Is a faith that does not compel one to act in good deeds actually a faith at all? And if one does good deeds without the spirit and conversion of heart then are the deeds not empty?
I can’t help but think that thinking otherwise is the ego and hubris of sin. Thinking we can do it on our own via just our faith or that we can do it via our own legalistic adherence to doing the right works is forgetting that “the Son cannot do anything on his own” for as Jesus says "I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me." Thus we must always remember we cannot do anything on our own and we must seek to do God’s will in both our actions (legalism) and thoughts (heart/spirit) while remembering that when we fail God’s judgment is “Gracious and merciful” so we must soften our hearts judging both ourselves and others with similar grace and mercy.
This push and pull and Jesus’ focus on grace and mercy often strikes me during Lent as Lent often becomes a time where Catholics focus on the legalism of fasting with discussions on what “counts” as meat or fasting, giving something up for Lent, and if Sunday counts as a “cheat day” where one gets to indulge in whatever it is they gave up for Lent. I found myself reflecting on this well intentioned legalism vs spirit while walking my dog the other day.
This year for Lent I took on the challenge of picking up extra dog poop once a day while out walking my dog. In essence I’m trying to give up the irrationally intense anger I get when seeing dog poop that others’ haven’t picked-up - and that I inevitably inadvertently step-in - by picking it up myself. The intent is to soften my heart, be more gracious and merciful, and be part of the solution rather than letting anger stew. Well, the other day as I was picking up after my dog there was another dog’s business sitting nearby so I went to grab it to continue my Lenten promise but it was Sunday, the widely regarded day where we’re not obliged to maintain our Lenten fast so should I have left it there and broken my lenten fast by getting angry?
What is the spirit of Lent? Is Lent faith by numbers and religion a faith kit? To me, legalism is to religion and leads to creating people of faith like paint by numbers is to art and creating artists or meal kits is to cooking and creating chefs. Paint by numbers reliably produces a pretty watercolor and meal kits reliably result in a pleasing meal. They both have their place and help immensely in training the basics, developing good habits, and ensuring a baseline is met but most would not call the respective producers a true chef or artist.
This relates to another point in today’s gospel, the requirement of doing good deeds and the ensuring arguments between faith and works. Is a faith that does not compel one to act in good deeds actually a faith at all? And if one does good deeds without the spirit and conversion of heart then are the deeds not empty?
I can’t help but think that thinking otherwise is the ego and hubris of sin. Thinking we can do it on our own via just our faith or that we can do it via our own legalistic adherence to doing the right works is forgetting that “the Son cannot do anything on his own” for as Jesus says "I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me." Thus we must always remember we cannot do anything on our own and we must seek to do God’s will in both our actions (legalism) and thoughts (heart/spirit) while remembering that when we fail God’s judgment is “Gracious and merciful” so we must soften our hearts judging both ourselves and others with similar grace and mercy.
Author: Andrew Armstrong, Theology Department
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