Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
(Acts 14:5-18; John 14:21-26)
Today’s reading from Acts relates to what Pope Leo XIV told the
people of Angola two weeks ago. The reading
tells how St. Paul chastises the people of Lystra for wanting to offer sacrifices
to men as if they were gods. In Angola
Pope Leo warned the people of syncretism, the amalgamation of established faith
with pagan practices to essentially form a new religion.
Appearing in Christian practice, syncretism corrupts the truth
of faith. When the Lystrians prepare
sacrifices for Paul and Barnabas, they are making them gods. They should realize, before they lose their
way to Him, that the true God requires their utmost devotion. If they dally with other gods, who can give
them nothing, they will not develop the sacrificial love that leads to
salvation.
We think of syncretism as a practice of unsophisticated
people. But individuals in developed countries also practice syncretistic belief. Burying a statue of St. Joseph upside-down to
sell one’s house, for example, combines superstition with the cult of the
saints. Something similar may be said of
entering a church for Mass and then refusing to participate in the prayers. We can depend on God’s love for us. But our love for God, which is necessary for
salvation, requires the truth of faith.
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