Spirituality can be looked at in two ways:

  1. There is the spirituality of mystic withdrawal which emphasizes the fulfillment of pious obligations, and shuns those regarded as sinners for fear of being contaminated by them. It aims at keeping the believer unstained by the world and close to God.
  2. Then there is the spirituality of active engagement which emphasizes solidarity with the Lord and with one another, especially those who are often perceived as the outcasts of the world. It does not shun them but extends a helping hand to them, believing that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

True spirituality, I believe, consists in reconciling these two tendencies and bringing them into harmony.

The Pharisees and the scribes in the gospel speak for the spirituality of withdrawal. Their focus was on ritual observances. Their complaint about the disciples eating with unwashed hands had nothing to do with personal hygiene. They were interested in the ritual washing of hands which was meant to avoid the impurity of outsiders from contaminating them. Jesus defended His followers: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing that goes into the person from the outside that makes him unclean; rather it is what comes out of a person that makes him unclean” (Mark 7: 14-15).

In this single sentence Jesus demolished the emphasis on withdrawal from the real world for the sake of ritual purity and observance of the works of the law. Non-Jews do not defile Jews any more than Jews defile non-Jews. Nothing and nobody outside a person can defile a person. If someone or something repels you, chances are you are the source of the repulsion in the first place. You need look no further than within your own heart and soul. A clean-minded person sees nothing but cleanness everywhere, in everything and in everyone. Did not Jesus say in one of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8). Jesus found time to withdraw from the crowd so He could be with His Heavenly Father in prayer, and he found time to reach out to those in need. No wonder he did not hesitate to touch a leper, to eat with sinners and to let an “unclean” woman touch him. He got so involved with everyone, with sinners and outcasts that people called him “a friend of sinners” (Matthew 11:9).

Permit me to illustrate what I’m saying by means of an old story.

Two monks were walking down a muddy road on a rainy day. They came upon a lovely young girl dressed in fine silk, who was afraid to walk any further because of the flood and the mud. “Come on, girl,” said Brother Francis. And he hoisted her up in his strong arms, and carried her across the mud and stream of water, and laid her down safely on dry land.

The two monks walked on in silence till they reached the monastery. There was tension in the air and the elder monk couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Monks shouldn’t go near young girls,” he said, accusingly, “certainly not beautiful ones like that one! What were you thinking of anyway?”

“Dear brother,” replied Brother Francis, “I put the girl safely down on dry ground, but you have brought her into the monastery.”

In these two monks we see two conflicting approaches to spirituality: withdrawal, on the one hand, and loving engagement, on the other.

This is a good time to examine your spirituality. Do you cultivate a spirituality of withdrawal like the elder monk who would leave a helpless girl out in the cold for the sake of keeping some man-made rule? Or do you cultivate true spirituality, like Brother Francis, who reached out to the young girl in need? Sure, Brother Francis, put himself in a vulnerable situation, but that is the nature of life.

Jesus never said it was going to be easy.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy