What is an “Intrinsic” Christian?
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Back in 2006, Author Dannagal Young sprinkled her husband’s bath towel with holy water while he was showering. She got the holy water from a friend, who tried the same thing on her husband, who also had cancer, and he survived. So Young decided to try it as well.
A former Catholic, Young describes herself and her husband, Mike, as
agnostics, but, she wrote in a recent issue of the New York Times about the
holy water, “It couldn’t hurt, right?” She said she “tapped into my childhood
Catholicism and faith in a benevolent God as I pictured the magic water
covering him with a protective layer.” She did this without his knowledge and acknowledges he “would have been very annoyed” had he known.
Mike had
what Young describes as “a benign tumor that had
nonetheless taken over his midbrain,” and he died several months after the failed
“holy-water therapy.” She describes her frustration with medical solutions at
the time but says she now realizes that “science and medicine are not magic.”
Neither is holy water.
Part of a Prayer
It’s simply water over which a priest has prayed, asking God to help and
protect people it touches. In other words, it’s part of a prayer, as well as a
reminder for Christians of their baptism and of the promises they made, or
which were made in their behalf, at their baptism.
Many people, however, misunderstand it and many other rituals and
objects we Catholics have in the centuries-long effort to make ordinary
things – such as water, buildings and windows, signs of the cross, special
clothing – “holy,” or reminders of their relationship to God.
But some people believe such practices and objects are central to religious belief and some include them in all they don’t like about faith. And it’s
understandable. Many religious people see these things as magic-like, considering them essential to their spirituality. They may have religious objects in their house but don't speak to their neighbors.
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| Tomas Halik Google Image |
“People with extrinsic piety, for whom religion is a tool to achieve
some other goal (such as social approval or affirmation of group identity or
group membership) tend to be really rigid and authoritarian,” Halik writes.
“People of intrinsic religiosity, for whom faith is meaningful in
itself, tend to be open, tolerant, flexible, socially sensitive, sacrificial,
and have a sense of solidarity.”
I don’t believe it’s that cut and dried. Most religious people are
probably a mixture of the two. But I think Allport, and Halik, have a point.
And I believe that most people who object to “organized religion” stereotype
religious people in the “extrinsic” category.
So, what do “intrinsic” Christians look like? I believe they are people
who internalize their faith and put that faith into practice. And
despite the bias against “organized religion,” I believe most people in the church, including the clergy, are in
this category.
Take Michael Pham, the first bishop to be appointed by the new Pope. A
refugee from Vietnam, Pham will be installed as bishop of San Diego on July 17.
"Something Was Missing"
While in
his junior year of college, says an online description, he took a philosophy
class that inspired him to think more deeply about the purpose of life and what
was most important. After graduating and beginning a career as an aerospace
engineer, he felt “some sort of emptiness,” like “something was missing” in his
life.
He
experienced joy and peace as a volunteer catechist at his parish, so eventually
entered the seminary to become a priest. He
recently joined other religious leaders to accompany immigrants attending court
hearings in downtown San Diego.
Said Pham, outside the federal building: “(I ask that) the government
treat people with kindness, compassion, dignity and respect.”
That’s what I call an “intrinsic” Christian.
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