Recently I came across this post from a Catholic I follow on X:
The context is about how Catholics supposedly “over complicate” worship, adding in all these unnecessary requirements like mandatory mass (including certain holy days of obligation), going to confession, participating in the Eucharist, etc. The Protestant view of discipleship is far simpler: focus on your relationship with Jesus. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
In many Protestant churches, the ritual of taking bread and wine isn’t always done regularly; perhaps once a month, or a few times a year, if that (such is the case at my husband’s nondenominational church). I say this not to criticize how other traditions do communion (although I naturally have thoughts), but rather to ask: if this ritual is considered “unnecessary” or “convoluted,” why do it at all?
Are the churches that practice this periodically somehow doing it better than the liturgical ones that do it weekly?
The point made in the X post is historically verified: it is arguably Jesus who instituted these “unnecessary” rituals in the first place, dating back thousands of years before his earthly arrival. Sure, the legalistic argument is that one can “go through the motions” with no real devotion whatsoever. But one can also read the Bible with the same backwards intention: I “have” to check this off my list so I’m in good standing with God. How is that different?
I’m reminded of just how judgmental I was the first time I visited extended Orthodox relatives in Israel. They didn’t do any “work” on the sabbath day, which extended to not using electricity or even tearing toilet paper (they would “pre tear” the day before). I remember thinking, you don’t have to do all this – Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross made this all unnecessary!
Perhaps that’s not a fair comparison, since traditional Jews don’t recognize Jesus as messiah, but coming from one “strange” tradition to another, they both have this in common: we do all this to set the sabbath day –and our very selves — apart from the rest.
Really, isn’t that one of the main points of all the “extra” ritualistic steps in the Old Testament: to be “set apart” from the pagan culture?
Aren’t Catholics also being “set apart” with holy days of obligation, and other rituals (such as confession) to prepare themselves in advance for receiving Christ in the flesh, within their own bodies?
Similarly, are you not “setting apart” your relationship with your spouse above others, with gifts or rituals on their birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and your anniversary? None of this is “necessary” in the sense that ignoring these days doesn’t make you less married, but it does affect the quality of your marriage.
The more I learn about Catholicism, the more I begin to understand that all this “extra stuff” isn’t about earning salvation, but rather illustrating the type of demand that worship should have on our daily lives. This is nothing new, comparative to biblical history, but it does look a bit different now. We no longer sacrifice rams at the altar, for instance, but participate in the one true sacrifice that Christ offered for us.
Preparing our hearts and souls in advance with the “rule” of confessing serious sins beforehand is akin to taking a shower and putting on nicer clothes before attending a wedding. That’s a perfectly acceptable, albeit socially necessary thing to do, right?
Another thing I’ve learned, the deeper my spiritual education goes: few things are ever as they seem in Catholicism. What can appear to Protestant sensibilities as “legalistic” or otherwise “unnecessary” may have a longer, biblical history than you realize.
Photo by Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash
