Image: Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985. Le Cantique des cantiques III (detail), .from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
August 30, 2015
"This people
honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they
worship me." (Mark 7:7b)
In 1990, the
group Milli Vanilli caused quite a music controversy.
The duo of Rob
and Fab had exploded on the pop music scene.
They had five big
hits, including three number one songs.
Then it was
discovered that they weren't really singing on their records or at their
concerts—they were simply lip-synching.
The actual vocals
were being sung by two former American soldiers who just didn't have the
"look" the record producer wanted.
People in the
recording industry were outraged, and Milli Vanilli had to give back the Grammy
Award given to them for Best New Artist.
In today's
gospel, Jesus says that the Pharisees, like Milli Vanilli, were doing an Old
Testament lip-synch.
They were mouthing
the appropriate and necessary words, but they were not doing the hard work that
God requires of all of us.
Jesus quoted
Isaiah's prophecy when he spoke to the Pharisees and the Scribes saying, "This
people honors me with their lips
but their hearts
are far from me." (Mark 7:7)
Would he say the
same of us?
Let's suppose
that Jesus Christ was in this church right now, sharing this celebration with
us.
We would
certainly want to show him that we are fully participating in the Mass.
But wait! Jesus is
here with us in this place of worship right now.
If we are merely
lip-synching our way through the Mass, we become the twenty-first century
Pharisees.
We become the
Milli Vanilli of the Mass.
The "lip
service" the Pharisees were accused of sounds like us when we come to Mass
out of habit, bringing our bodies but leaving our hearts at home.
Our challenge is
to bring our hearts to Mass each and every time, and to pay more than
lip-service to Jesus.
When we say the
Creed, there should be no doubt that these are the things we believe in as
Catholics.
When we say the
Lord's Prayer, there should be no question that we give
our praise and
thanks to God, and that we will forgive others as we ask for forgiveness from
God.
When we receive
Communion, we should say, "Amen," and truly mean that we believe we
are receiving the body of Jesus Christ.
And that we are
willing to be the Body and Blood of Christ to others, willing to give ourselves
to their needs.
The Christian
Social Union was very much annoyed because there were some evils we really
should avoid and so they sang another hymn
to help the
unemployed.
—G.K. Chesterton
This is
lip-service religion.
Chesterton was
not knocking prayer, or hymn singing.
But prayer that
has become a mere moving of the lips, when there is no change inside us, is
hollow.
When there are no
deeds in the world that show that Christians live here, we, too, have become Milli Vanillis in our faith.
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