Third in a Series

Those who take their religion seriously know that what they believe ought to influence how they behave. Their faith ought to extend beyond religious services to their daily lives.

People who attend Mass regularly but are unaffected by what they profess seem to be hypocrites. Their apparent hypocrisy is sometimes used by others as a reason not to attend Mass. When someone says to me “I don’t go to Mass on Sundays because the Church is filled with hypocrites,” I am tempted to say “There’s always room for one more!”

In his book, “Would You Like to Be a Catholic?” (St. Anthony Messenger Press), Eugene Kennedy is quite good on the difference between surface religion and religion which has been embraced strongly.

Even two people who identify themselves as Catholic may embrace their religion in strikingly different ways. What being Catholic means to them may be quite different. Using a distinction which psychologist Gordon Allport made years ago, Kennedy writes about what Allport called extrinsic and intrinsic religion. Allport was struck by the phenomenon of people attending church regularly and yet being strongly prejudiced against some race. Allport wondered how this could be possible. Why did not the teachings of religion, which these prejudiced people claimed to believe, enable them to see that they were sinning by being prejudiced? Allport came to believe that there were two different ways of believing, the extrinsic and the intrinsic.

Reflecting on Allport’s distinction Kennedy writes the following:

“Extrinsic, or immature, faith accepted on the authority of others, rules out any questions but readily gives answers to every religious doubt or inquiry and is not applied to business or life choices. Intrinsic, or mature, faith accepted on the basis of personal experience and conviction, does not give easy answers but rather asks more questions and is routinely and systematically applied to all professional and personal choices.

“Indeed, intrinsic religion is identified as a master motive in the lives of those who profess it; it is their moral compass in locating true north and in locating their position on all important matters in life. As a thoroughly internalized belief system, it permeates the person because it is integrated into, rather than grafted onto, the personality of the believer.”

What most disturbs me about extrinsic or immature faith is that it is not applied to business or life choices. The presumption is that those people whom Allport observed as regular churchgoers who remained unchallenged by their faith and continued to be prejudiced had extrinsic faith. Whatever else faith should do for us one of its most important uses is to illuminate our experience and help us to make important decisions. We never want our faith to remain in church, we want to bring it to our daily lives. It ought to make a difference in the way that we live.

While I was in college, I came to know someone who was a striking example of someone who had intrinsic faith. Prior to that time I had never met anyone who was able to apply his Catholic faith to contemporary events. This person seemed to view everything under the light of his Catholic faith. His faith permeated his outlook on everything.

I like Eugene Kennedy’s description of intrinsic as a “master motive.” It is what drives a person, what directs his or her choice of vocation. It probably greatly influences a person’s choice of a life partner. Indeed it colors every important choice that a person makes.

My guess is that intrinsic faith is not achieved by most people quickly or easily. Though as a Catholic I believe that the gift of faith comes from God, that gift ought to grow and develop. The faith of a child is fine for a child but it may not be fine for an adult. If my faith today has not grown and developed from the time I made my first Communion 65 years ago, something is wrong.

My faith as a seven-year-old may have been fine for a seven-year-old but I doubt that it would be fine for someone who has spent over 23 years studying in Catholic schools and been a Catholic priest for over 45 years. I think that human beings should grow physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. For me this means that we should grow in our faith.

Kennedy’s description of intrinsic religion as a thoroughly internalized belief system and as permeating the person because it is integrated into the personality describes for me several people I know. They are very attractive people, people who seem to be whole, to have an enviable integrity. I want to be like them. Their faith is both challenging and inspiring.