Every human is religious, reaching for God with his or her every act.

Thursday, 11/3/16

In the Gospel the Pharisees and Scribes complained, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

The word Pharisee means “one set apart.” It designated that segment of Jewish men who kept all of those thousands of religious rules that had been added to the original Law of Moses.

The Scribes were men who kept track of those thousands of religious rules, advising people how to abide by rules that seem to be in conflict..

The Scribes and Pharisees saw themselves as very religious men, because they kept all the rules rules compiled over the centuries.

Jesus had a simpler idea of being religious. The word religion itself has something to with the word ligament. Religion is what ties every human to God and what ties God to every human.

France, after 1880, declared itself to be a purely secular state, with no ties to religion.

Maurice Blondel, a brilliant young French graduate scholar at the Sorbonne, was put to finding the basic impulse that causes any human to move from quiet to action.

In his doctoral thesis L’Action he clearly proved that what brings each of us to act is a reaching up for the creator. His flawless scholarship forced the Sorbonne to grant him his decree, but they refused to let him teach, because they said he was too Christian.

 In speaking of any people as being very religious we must keep in mind that every person is religious, reaching for God with his or her every action.