Worship

In Reason and Religious Belief (Oxford: OUP, 2003) Peterson et. al. argue that God is, above all, a being who is the object of, and worthy of, worship. What does 'worship' mean? It means total devotion, placing ourselves at God's disposal completely and without reservation, with no attempt at “bargaining” with God, no mental reservation to “keep our options open”. In other words, absolute commitment and deference.

The Jesuit constitutions summarise the particular Jesuit mode of worship in it's self description: “The end of this Society is to devote itself with God's grace not only to the salvation and perfection of the members' own souls, but also with that same grace to labour strenuously in giving aid toward the salvation and perfection of the souls of their neighbours” (General Examen [3]).

Here at De Nobili College, the second-year philosophers have slowly been receiving news of their regency placements once the academic year ends in a few weeks. Most are heading to Jesuits schools across India; many are going to parishes (particularly mission stations in remote areas). Two (possibly three) are headed to Afghanistan to lecture at one of the universities there while one is headed to China. What takes Jesuits to the far-flung reaches of the globe in frontier, potentially dangerous, situations? A sense of adventure? Undoubtedly. A desire to serve the Church? Of course. Because that's where they've been asked to go by their superiors? Naturally.

But, deeper than all that, a sense that this is how they are called to worship God.

I've often wondered what the word 'worship' denotes today in parts of the world that are largely secularised. The RE Online website (an online resource site for Religious Education in the UK) for instance, appears to use 'worship' synonymously with the specific rites and rituals used to enact it. But what about the internal attitude signified by 'worship'? What of the recognition of God as a being that is infinitely and absolutely greater than ourselves?

And yet, perhaps it is not that nothing is actually worshipped. If complete deference and unconditional commitment are the constituents of worship, then is there something else that people do, in fact, worship in their lives (even if they may not recognise it as 'worship')?