What qualifies us to be good Christians .We are sincere and devout in following rituals. Traditions and customs of religious significance very piously. We will not tolerate diversions and can enforce violently such acts of deviations not conforming to our belief .We attend masses, Novenas and feast of various saints and travel great distances at length on pilgrimages ,signifying as sacrifices We are faithful at reciting the Rosary regularly , morning , night prayers and grace before meals .We embark on journeys ,seeking blessings at the start for a safe journey. Sunday mass is a habit of compulsions and as some one said rightly , as outstanding Catholics perched outside the church ,Our devotion and affiliations to our own favourite saints is unfailing act of gratitude for favours received or receivable. Our prayers often then not are for intercession for ourselves or our loved loved ones. We think , offer and pray for souls of our family out fear of retribution or guilt . Only on All Souls’ Day we have sublime thought for souls in purgatory , Who are under normal circumstances escape our conscious effort. We spare no efforts at decorating their graves , but made their lives miserable when they were alive .Some offer perpetual masses even when alive as they are not confident of family following the traditions , or they care to hear masses other then Sunday of day of obligation.But when alive only Sunday mass is a confirmed routine .Even on social media some post only religious texts, goading friends and others about their duty to religious beliefs as if they are performing a sacred duty towards others. The chain form of prayers mandates compulsory forwarding with the threat of good or bad results in the alternative. The ritual of baptising with names of saints in the past is giving way to fancy names and even names prominent in other religions A new fad revived of Holy signs by way of grottos, crosses etc in the compound to ward off evil and other perceived curses .The spreading of open banquets on All Souls’ Day even by plundering produce of neighbours is fortunately becoming redundant The custom of pre marriage banquets to the poor is to appease the dead souls or guilt fear of reputations Most of us are piously following rituals and customs , religious traditions by the book .The Bible is a decorative show piece on artistic home altars , But it is not recited daily . We wear all types of signs like scapulars, cross ensigma, sacred threads, medals, Rosary rings to outwardly profess faith and demonstrate public our firm beliefs Our life , actions behaviour are totally diverse from scriptures We have limited concern if
at all towards the poor and needy We candonate in thousands to church funds for civil projects etc without blinking an eye. Do we live the scriptures in practice or merely recite? Our love for neighbour is visible by hate, envy, jealously and frequent fights and quarrels over boundary and property .Even family members commit crimes against their own for enforcing rightly or wrongly their legitimate dues Let us not sit on judgement over others . But day in day, day out we receive mails reminding us of our duty towards religious beliefs and customs. There is no denying the fact that many such individuals are hypocrites as their lives, behaviour are poles apart .They only want to sermonise and expect others to follow scriptures, while it does not apply to them . It is best to live our faith and such that we become living examples of what we believe by our actions Religion is a personal experience not meant to be announced from pulpit The beatitudes are perfect example of living a devout life .Let is not wear religion on our lapels for public consumptions. I hate such hypocrites professing faith outwardly and recommending others by words Live , act and behave like Christ in our daily life of prayers and actions that quantify and qualify our beliefs Nelson Lopes Chinchinin Sent from my iPhone
