WORD 2day: Monday, 22nd week in Ordinary time
September 2, 2019: 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Luke 4: 16-30
One of our philosophy professors would often refer to what he called 'practical atheism'. We know what atheism means: it is saying there is no God. It is much safer and clearer than practical atheism which actually is a stand of subtle self deception.
Practical Atheism is the way of life where a person lives his or her life as if God did not exist, though theoretically the person claims to believe in a god. For all practical purposes there seems to be no difference between the life of an atheist and this person who claims to believe in God. At times we can live our life with values and priorities that are so ungodly, with mere external practices that seem religious.
Much worse implication of Practical Atheism is this: if we consider an atheist as a person who lives against God and against everything that God stands for - love, universal brotherhood and sisterhood, justice, righteousness and peace - then a practical atheist would be one who in practice is actually working against these values, although he or she may be in the garb of a believer!
Now just imagine things that are going on around us in the world today... people who claim they believe in God but do things exactly against what God would stand for, are they not practical atheists? Wait a little... it is easy to answer that question... but let us reformulate that question a bit: by any chance, am I a practical atheist?
Let me not answer that question immediately... let my thinking , my attitudes and my life style answer it. The readings today invite us to examine our deep seated convictions and judge for ourselves how much our beliefs truly transform our lives.