Our faith is not a system of morality. We have to be careful that we do not sum it up in this manner. Now it is important to understand that our faith does include a system of morality, but that is not the end all and be all of our faith. The reason why this is so important is because the minute we reduce everything there is about being Catholic to such a system, we enter the realm of Daniel Dennett. I have discussed him on these pages before. His premise and for the most part it is true is that one does not need to believe in God to have a sense of right and wrong. On major issues like murder and stealing this is right, on other issues such as the definition of commitments, a belief in God is a huge factor in how we define them.

What is more important is that our faith is about a relationship with God and that relationship feeds our morality. Therefore, our understanding of right and wrong comes from the relationship. Our morality therefore does not change with the times as much as it is made deeper by its base, being with God. Today’s second reading comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Now according to the New American Bible, this letter was not written specifically to the Christians in Ephesus but to all Christians and that makes sense because it is two thousand years later and we are still reading it and we are not from Ephesus, we are not even from Ephesus Georgia.

St. Paul is talking about how our relationship with God brings us a wisdom that leads us to act not as people of darkness but of light. Therefore our relationship what feeds this. The more we grow closer to Christ, the more we grow in wisdom and this wisdom leads us to understand our world differently than those who do not have this relationship and that affects our behavior. This is what St. Paul is talking about. Jesus said the same thing: If  you love me you will keep my commandments. But if we love Christ then we learn from Him a truth that we find only from Him and this love creates a whole new vision of life.

Let me give you an example. You lose your job and now you have no income. Obviously, you will seek another job. Now times get tough and not being a believer you have no where to turn. Are you still going to keep your moral system under that pressure? Few people do. You do not have to believe in God to maintain a moral system but anyone can maintain one when all is well. Now you are in panic mode. Can you still choose not to steal? Meanwhile, the Catholic who does have a deep relationship with God also lost his job, but his morality is not based in need as much as based and trust and love. He may be tempted to steal as well, but he knows that falling into such temptation will create a worse situation. He will have shut himself off from God instead of turning to God to help in this time. The struggle he encounters leads him to a love and wisdom that also deepens his integrity. Where as the previous situation fulfills an immediate need at the cost of alienation and estrangement from God and others as well as integrity. It is our relationship with God that strengthens our decisions.

However, it even goes another step, because Paul is talking about being in the light of Christ. This light changes our understanding of the world around us so much so that this should change our behavior. I learned this principle a long time ago and I practice as difficult as it may be. That is to praise God for all things, good and bad. That means when things go wrong, praise God. So the person who loses his job, the first thing he should do is praise God. That is definitely not something you going to find an atheist teaching. We should be first trying not to panic and trying to calm down, but to praise God, are you kidding? No, I am not. Because by doing this, you are showing God that you put all trust in Him, no matter what happens. This will change your attitude and your mindset. Everytime you are tempted to panic make sure you discipline yourself to focus on God and then continue your job search as you would. Now you are acting within the wisdom of God that Paul talks about. This means that as a person of  light, you look at the world in a way and you act differently.

So it is not just a matter of not sinning, but of changing you way of living. Changing your whole of being centered on the Christ you love and who loves you. This changes all the rules.

Now we can see that if we sum up our faith as nothing more than a moral system, we live a dry faith, but if we change our way of living so that our relationship with God becomes the driving force, we see ourselves completely differently. Our morality is different and our way of being is different. It is more than just a system of morality.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr