Imagine a tightrope walker maneuvering across the audience in a circus. He has his balance pole and carefully he walks one step in front of the other as he goes from the left side of the arena to the right. Everyone looks up; some crane their necks to see the man who is so daring. Under the man is a bit of a dampener on the experience. It is a safety net. Required by law, the safety net reminds us that even if he falls, he not be hurt. We are happy to see that, but we realize the risk involved is not to the level it would be if indeed there was no net. The man is doing more than enough to prove His daring, but the state says they want him protected.

That scene also offers us a reflection on the difference between a legal based religion and that one that Christ calls us to live.

When we seek to live the faith only based on what the law says, it is like we are walking across the stadium on the safety net. We are doing the bare minimum that allows us to be called a performer, but what we are doing is not spectacular. Really, the only person who could get away with that in the eyes of the audience is the clown.

If we choose to be the tightrope walker then we are performing in a way that merits the attention we are getting. It takes great skill, practice and determination. Likewise, if we are going to live our faith, we must live above and beyond the minimum required. We must be like the tightrope walker, not like the one who walks across the safety net.

When we live our faith strictly at the legal level, then we really have nothing to offer the world around us. There is no life there and at best we can be dismissed as clowns. Jesus rejected those who lived their lives at that level. The Pharisees followed the letter of the law perfectly, but they did not follow the spirit of the law. They lived at the safety level but not above it. They were doing the bare minimum, even if they felt they were doing more. Jesus pointed out to them that they had nothing to offer to the world.

We need to go far beyond this level if we are going to live our Catholic faith, otherwise we are just clowns.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J. Carr