HOMILY for March 4, 2018: 3rd Sunday in Lent, Cycle B

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3^rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Terranova Hermitage

March 4, 2018         

Minimalism: Art or Religion?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

Artistic Minimalism

In the world of art, there is a type of painting called minimalism.

My understanding is that minimalism began as an artistic movement in the 1960s.  Minimalist artists depict an object – like an apple – in the starkest possible way.

They might paint a few red dots and some rounded lines more or less in the shape of an apple. But they would not represent the apple itself.

Minimalists depict only the bare essentials of the object. They paint a minimum and that is why this style of art is called minimalism.

Religious Minimalism

Today’s Scripture passages address the issue of religious minimalism.

The Old Testament passage gives us something very familiar – the Ten Commandments.  These commandments have formed the foundation of Judeo-Christian morality for the past 3,000 years.

They are important and we need to obey them.  But, these commandments are also minimalist and here is why I say that.

Notice in today’s Gospel that Jesus is dealing with some of the people who are in the temple. They are obeying the basic commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy.

After all, they are there, in the temple. But, they are really not putting themselves into the prayer or worship.

Instead, they are really absorbed in the money and merchandising that is associated with temple sacrifice. So, they are keeping the religious law as it is literally written, but they are not observing its spirit.

Jesus gets angry and drives them out of the temple.  Why? Because they are religious minimalists.

Something like minimalist painters, they are only observing the law in a bare-bones way and have not put their heart into it.  Jesus deplores this religious minimalism and calls us to much more.

Religious Maximalism

We might say that he calls us to a religious or spiritual maximalism.

He wants us, for example, to look at the Ten Commandments and really put our heart into them. He wants us to go beyond the letter of the law and embrace its spirit.

Jesus wants us to do as much good as possible. That’s what I mean by a spiritual maximalism.

Let’s look at just two of the commandments as examples of this.

Two Commandments

The commandment says: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.” 

The minimalist approach says: I come to Mass every Sunday. The maximalist approach says: I come to Mass and really try to put myself into it.

I join in the prayers and hymns and I try to take in what the readings are saying. I receive Communion and try to be aware of the Lord’s presence.    

And beyond that, I also try to pray in some way every day and make not just Sunday, but every day a holy day. So, this is an illustration of the maximalist approach.

Let’s take one more commandment: “Thou shalt not kill,”

The minimalist approach says: I would never think of killing or even physically harming another person. For the maximalist approach today, in the year 2018, I – at least I personally – am thinking this.

I feel some responsibility about the killing going on in our country. The number of killings of adults and school children compels me to see that the commandment – “You shall not kill” – may be speaking to me here.

So, I am feeling God calling me to look reasonably and calmly at where we are with our laws on firearms. Specifically, I feel the need to look at existing background checks and see if we need stronger background checks.

And I feel the need to evaluate whether owning assault weapons should be part of our human rights. This, in our time and place, for me, is an illustration of the maximalist approach to this commandment.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by looking at the conclusion of today’s gospel.

It says that some people, there in Jerusalem, “began to believe in Jesus because they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he understood human nature.”

Jesus sensed that they liked his healings of people—that is what is meant here by “signs.” But he also understood that they would probably revert to their pattern of observing just the letter and not the spirit of the law.

They would go back to the minimalist approach and not accept the challenge of the maximalist approach.

The question is: what will we do today?