From today’s reading...
When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.” Luke 2:21
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were spiritual and religious.
They followed the precepts of the Jewish law until Jesus started shaking things up thirty years later.
But keep in mind Jesus did not come to throw out all religious practices and implement anarchy for His followers.
No way.
He gave us instructions on how to pray, how to remember him, and how to know what ceremonies were holy and important, i.e., weddings, baptisms, ordinations, receiving the Holy Spirit via Confirmation.
He also established an organization with a hierarchy by handing Peter the keys and giving Peter and the 12 the power to hear and forgive sins and the power—the obligation—to build the Church through the selection, replacement, and oversight of its leaders.
God knows what we need.
He knows we need structure.
He knows we need big goals.
He knows we need mercy.
He knows we need justice.
He knows the only way to have all of that and more is by being spiritual and religious, which means we must...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Now go sell something.