Our prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley was asked, "If there’s no cross on your church, what symbol would characterize your religion?" He said, "The lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith." That is, we are encouraged to show our love for and faith in Jesus Christ by the quality of our lives, by the way that we live and the way that we treat others, by kindness, charity, and gentleness toward all of Heavenly Father’s children. By so doing, we can enrich and improve the lives of those around us, not to mention the improvement in our own lives. President Hinckley went on to say that no sign, no work of art, no representation or form is adequate to express the glory and the wonder of the living Christ.

You then asked why all the rituals of the Mormon church? This last part is puzzling to me, since I don’t think there are all that many rituals in the Mormon church. First, I don’t find it ritualistic that we would want to live Christ-centered lives and live in an exemplary way to all. Second, in our Sunday worship services, we observe the blessing and passing of the sacrament to the congregation. This is done to help us remember our Savior, to renew our covenants to take upon ourselves His name, and to renew our determination to keep His commandments. Then, there is the ordinance of baptism which is done by immersion, but not uncommon to most Christian faiths. Additionally, we believe in the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That may not be as common to all Christian faiths, but is not an uncommon doctrine when we compare what is taught to us by the apostles in the New Testament concerning the reception of the Holy Ghost. We believe in ordaining men to the priesthood and again hands are laid upon the heads of those worthy members and they receive the priesthood in that ordinance.

You may be aware that we also believe in laying hands upon the sick and healing them by the power of the priesthood and according to their own faith, coupled with the will of the Lord. This may be uncommon to certain faiths, but again not uncommon in the teachings of Christ or His apostles. The only thing I can think of that one could call ritualistic is that in our temples there are ordinances performed and worship completed that is never talked about outside of the temple. That is not because there is anything secret or ritualistic about it, but rather because it is so sacred. These temple ordinances have been passed down through all generations of time. They were common amongst the Israelites and were conducted by the Levites. These ordinances were conducted in Solomon’s temple and were common amongst the members of the church at the time of Christ and His apostles.

I hope this is helpful.

Sincerely,

Donny Osmond


See related multimedia presentations