Religion’s Tripod

CEBU, Philippines - A relative of mine wrote: “I am a Roman  Catholic burdened by so much unbelief.  I do not just close my eyes and imbibe everything my religion tells me.  Truth to tell, I even question my religion a lot.” (The Freeman, January 14, 2015, p. 19)

These lines often repeated over a local radio station might offer his questioning mind some consolation: “Dili relihiyon ang makaluwas kanato, kun dili ang atong pakigrelasyon sa Dios,” meaning “It is not religion that can save us, but it is our relationship with God.”

To further enlighten his questioning mind, an insight from the founder of the Science of Identity, Jagad Guru (Jagad = World; Guru = Teacher) whose initiated name is Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa and whose name prior to his initiation was Chris Butller (an American by birth) might help.

According to him, there is only one RELIGION (all capital letters), i.e., loving relationship with God, our loving Almighty Father, but there are many “religions” (in quotation marks and spelled with small letters).  The comparison he uses is that of intoxicating drinks.  Just as there is only one alcohol that intoxicates one, but there are many kinds of alcoholic drinks (beer, brandy, gin, rum, wine, whiskey, etc. etc.), so also there is only one RELIGION, but there are many “religions.”

Without relinquishing my Roman Catholic religion, I am open to Jagad Guru’s insight that RELIGION rests on a tripod for it to be stable; namely, a bonafide spiritual teacher, Sacred Writings, God’s voice in each one of us.

We Roman Catholics are truly blest to have Pope Francis as our spiritual leader.  However, he does not always come to our country to teach us personally. He does so via his alter egos (the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Priests).  Just like in the parlor game “Message Relay” or “Telewoman,” the message is no longer the same at the end of the line as when it was transmitted at the start.

Without generalizing, we heard of “Mitsubishops,” priests not practicing what they are preaching, lay leaders who are “more popish than the Pope.” Can you imagine a parish priest telling the sacristan-turned-lay minister that it is forbidden to use Latin when the latter together with his former parish priest (now married) were singing the “Responso” in Latin (for free!) during the wake of a former parishioner?   

I heard that before the distribution of Holy Communion at Mass the officiating priest’s instruction was for only the “madres” may help him distribute communion.  On another occasion, a priest belonging to the same religious congregation forbade “madres” to help him distribute Holy Communion. “Cadacura con sulocura?” Is the liturgy left to the whims of each officiating priest?

For Sacred Scriptures, we Christians (Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics) have the Holy Bible; the Muslims have the Koran; the Hindus have the Bhagavad Gita, etc. etc.  How many of the Roman Catholics read the Bible every day?  No wonder, our Bishops complain that we are sacramentalized but hardly evangelized!

The third foot of the tripod on which RELIGION stands is listening to God Who is closer to us than we are to ourselves.  Unless we listen to Him in our heart of hearts (in meditation) we will never be happy.  In the January 30 reading of the Bible Diary published by the Society of St. Paul, there is at the bottom a picture of Pope Francis beside a quote from Evangelii Gaudium (EG 7): “Our technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet had found it very difficult to engender joy.”

To conclude, there is a story about a meeting of Brahmins (wise men) to decide where to hide happiness so that man will not find it.  One suggested that it be placed on top of the highest mountain. The objection: Man will invent some kind of a helicopter and will surely find true happiness there.

Another proposed to hide it in the deepest ocean bed. The objection: Man will invent something better than the submarine and he will find true happiness there. The wisest suggestion that was accepted by all the wise men was to hide it inside man’s innermost being because in the midst of our materialistic society, there hardly is anybody who will look for true happiness inside him by listening to God Who is closer to him than he is to himself.

No wonder, my patron saint, St. Augustine, wrote: “Inquietum est cormeumdonec requiescat in Te, Domine,” meaning “Restless is my heart until it rests in Thee, O Lord.”  Let us therefore listen to the Pope, read the Bible, and meditate!  Then we will possess true RELIGION and not just a “religion.”