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Over the past couple of weeks, one news item in particular has caught my attention in the daily newspapers. It is the story of the ongoing debacle over the presence of a stone depiction of the Ten Commandments in an Alabama courthouse. Now, for those of you not familiar with the story, the essence of it is this: the Alabama chief justice has been ordered by a federal U.S. District Judge to remove the sculpture from the rotunda of his courthouse as its presence is unconstitutional; the Alabama chief justice has persistently refused to do so, asserting, and I quote, " that under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, federal courts have absolutely no power, authority or jurisdiction to tell the state of Alabama that we cannot acknowledge God as the source of our justice system." And so, the wrangling rages on unabated, and we witness yet another example of how religion, as it has done for centuries, continues to divide and alienate people across our world.

Now let me quote for you what, James, in our second reading this morning, had to say about religion when addressing the early Jewish-Christian community: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Isn't it interesting that, in his definition of religion, James makes no mention of religious ritual, liturgical celebrations, church attendance, doctrine, rubrics or any of the components of formal, organized religion as we understand it today. Instead, his vision points entirely to a heart-centered, God-centered and other-centered expression of faith and love. For me, as a practicing Christian, this raises the following question: what is the value and purpose of organized, formal religion in our world today? How well does the particular faith tradition we subscribe to, help us grow in healthy, loving and life-giving relationship with God, with God's infinite and ever-expanding creation and with the entire human family we are an integral part of?

Well, let me begin by saying, that as a priest and a practicing Christian, I firmly believe in the place, importance and value of organized religion. I believe as individuals and as a human community, we have an inherent need to ritualize and celebrate what we believe; to give expression to the joy, pain, anguish, loss, gratitude and hope we experience in our lives. We now have evidence that some seventy thousand years ago we buried our dead with distinctive religious ritual. So, certainly the liturgical aspect of organized religion has a place and a real value in our lives - especially when it moves and inspires us to make a real difference in our world.

That said, it cannot be denied, that for many people today, the search for and celebration of faith in God, does not take place within the context of formal religion. The last two decades have seen the relentless emptying of Christian churches all over the world. In Ireland where I grew up, we now have only one active diocesan seminary, where ten years ago we had nine. For many people today the church is outmoded, irrelevant and out of touch. Many people today experience a growing sense of loss and helplessness; they are adrift in search of some kind of spiritual home. The experience of many thinking Christians is that there is an absence of wisdom in how we live, how we relate to the rest of humanity, and how we deal with the world's problems. So, where do we go from here?

I suggest that if our faith, and it's communal expression in liturgy, is to have any real bearing in our lives, and is to satisfy the burning spiritual hungers of our time, then a deeper wisdom is called for; one that will impel us to action and new life, and one that will elevate us to a new level of consciousness - one that is related to the rest of the world - to all humanity, to all creatures, to our earth, and to our environment. We are all connected and we are all responsible for each other. In the words of Diarmuid O'Murchu, an Irish religious priest and social psychologist: "Theology is moving out of the sacred canopy of formal religion right into the heart of the world. It is becoming what perhaps it was always destined to be: the people's own wisdom, expressing a sense of faith that responds to God at the heart of creation rather than merely assenting to creedal formulations."

But let me just conclude by quoting from another of our world's foremost visionaries, Joan Chittister. This is taken from her book, Heart of Flesh: "When the filter through which we see the world brings us to openness and compassion for the world - humility in the face of it, vulnerability to the impact of it, nonviolence in dealing with it, and respect for its otherness - then creation is recreated, and humans become human again."