The Good Samaritan and the Cross

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Gospel Reading for today (Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C), we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan:

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Lk 10:25-37)

Jesus spoke the parable in answer to a conversation that He was having with one of the scholars of the Torah, who was concerned about what he ought to do to inherit eternal life.

[Incidentally, contrary to Luther’s notion of “Sola Fide”, when the man asked Jesus the question, He did NOT answer by saying: “Silly man...don’t you know that you can’t DO anything to inherit eternal life...you are saved by faith alone”. Rather, Jesus’ response to this man is evidence that we are not saved by faith alone; but rather that we are saved by faith AND works].

After correctly answering that the way to inherit eternal life is through love of God and neighbour, the man asked Jesus “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus answered his question through the parable of the Good Samaritan; and then instructed the man to go and do the same.

As I was listening to the Gospel Reading in the Mass this morning, I looked up at the Crucifix and it occurred to me that the parable of the Good Samaritan is ultimately a parable of the Cross.

We see that it is a parable of the Cross of Christ when we realise that the man attacked by the robbers is an image of fallen mankind. W have been mortally wounded by sin and left destitute on the side of the spiritual highway to die in our trespasses and sins. But it is Christ who, like a Samaritan (despised and rejected by men – Isa 53:3), comes to our aid, heals our wounds, and pays our way with His own Blood. In this way, He shows His love for His Heavenly Father by resigning Himself to the Father’s will (Lk 22:42). In the selfsame act of obedience, He also shows His love for us – made His neighbours through the Incarnation – in that He laid down His life for us (Jn 15:13).

But Christ’s Cross is not the only one that is referred to in this parable. We see a glimpse of another cross in Jesus’ words “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37). The second cross is our own, which Jesus tells to pick up daily if we want to be His disciples (Matt 16:24). In taking up our own cross every day, we show our love for God and our neighbour by denying ourselves and giving ourselves instead to God’s will, and sacrificially giving ourselves to the service of others – firstly those closest to us (our families, our fellow-parishioners, and our work colleagues); and also to others that God might place in our path every day.

So, as we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, may our desire be to imitate our Good Shepherd in loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and loving our neighbour as ourselves. We do this when we unite ourselves with Him in His Crucifixion – when we die to ourselves and live for God and our neighbour.
 

Justification - are we "declared righteous" or "made righteous"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Second Reading for today (First Sunday of Lent, Year C) was taken from Rom 10:8-13:

“Scripture says: The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart. If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When Scripture says: those who believe in Him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask for His help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
 

This passage of Scripture contains within it a doctrine that was at the heart of the Protestant Reformation – the doctrine of justification. The Catholic Church has always taught that justification is God making the sinner righteous; and that this takes place principally in the waters of baptism where all our sins are washed away and we are made new creatures in Christ by the grace of God.

In opposition to this, the Protestant Reformers began to teach that justification is not about God making a sinner righteous. “NO!” they said – justification is a legal transaction whereby God declares the condemned sinner (who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ) as righteous based solely on the merits of Christ.

In other words, according to the Reformers, the Christian was still naught but a vile and condemned sinner standing before God, his Divine Judge. But instead of God pronouncing rightful damnation upon him, He would see instead the blood of Christ applied by the sinner’s faith and declare the sinner as righteous. For them, the Christian remained incapable of any righteousness; but God would see not his filth but rather the righteousness of Christ which clothed him.

Furthermore, the Reformers went on to teach the separation of justification and sanctification. Justification, according to them, was the once-for-all transaction whereby the sinner was declared righteous; whereas sanctification was the ongoing process whereby the sinner progressively grows in righteousness (or is made righteous) – a process that would continue until the believer is completely conformed to the image of Christ and finally glorified in Heaven. This legal transaction (or justification) they say, took place on the Cross when Jesus took our sin upon Himself, and imputed His righteousness to us in place of our sin. As such, the believer remains a sinner...but a sinner covered by the blood of Christ. Or as Martin Luther put it: We are “snow-covered dung”.

And since it was a once-for-all transaction, the person justified (or “declared righteous”) would remain justified forever [and so they also taught that true Christians could never “lose their salvation”]. In this way they claimed that the Catholic Church (by teaching that justification is God making the sinner righteous) actually confused justification and sanctification.

Now, this might seem like a nice, neat little system to follow; and it may seem at first glance to give more honour to Christ. But, upon further examination, it can be seen that it is flawed at its very core and that the Catholic position is most consistent with Sacred Scripture and with reason.   

Firstly, to declare that a sinner is righteous (i.e. "not a sinner") is like saying that a murderer is not a murderer; or that a thief is not a thief i.e. it is a lie at worst and a contradiction at best. We know that God cannot lie (Tit 1:2); neither can He deceive nor be deceived (CCC #156). So, He will never declare that something is what it isn’t i.e. He will never declare that a sinner is righteous (or “not a sinner”).

Secondly, the idea that justification is not making the sinner righteous, but only declaring him righteous, is unscriptural. In the passage cited for today’s Second Reading, we read:

“By believing from the heart you are made righteous” – Rom 10:11

Some might argue that the translation used by the Lectionary is biased because other versions say that the one who “believes with the heart is justified” (e.g. NRSV). So, they would say that to translate the word “justified” as “made righteous” is to beg the question. But in response, we can point out that the translation “made righteous” actually fits with what St. Paul said earlier in the same Epistle:

“Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” – Rom 5:18-19 (NRSV)

What St. Paul does in the above passage is show that the work of justification is Jesus Christ’s reversal of the Fall. St. Paul talks about justification, and he talks about it in terms of being made righteous through Christ in the same way that through Adam we are all made sinners. Now, the Reformers didn’t teach that we are simply declared sinners because of the Fall. Rather, they taught that through Adam’s sin, we are all made sinners. But in this they were inconsistent with St. Paul who taught that Christ’s righteous act made us righteous in the same way that Adam’s sin made us sinners.

On this note, I would add that the Reformed position is not completely wrong. There is nothing wrong with saying that justification is God’s declaration that we are righteous. However, it is not the contradictory legal declaration that the Reformers insisted on. Rather, according to the Catholic Church’s teaching, God’s declaration that we are righteous is based on truth. In other words, God declares that we are righteous, because He has already made us righteous. Not unlike the fact that St. John elsewhere tells us that “we are called the children of God; because that is what we are” (see 1 Jn 3:1).

Thirdly, justification and sanctification cannot be separated as neatly as the Protestant Reformers devised. Rather, what we see in Scripture is that justification and sanctification are often used interchangeably and, in essence, they deal with the same thing e.g.:

“...you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Cor 6:11

Sadly, the Protestant Reformers, in their misguided zeal, got the doctrine of justification wrong. Whilst their intention was to give more honour and glory to Christ, what they actually achieved was a detraction of glory because their teaching on justification leads logically to the implication that God is a liar. And because of this, we should never cease to pray for our Protestant brothers and sisters in Christ, that God would allow the scales of “Catholic antagonism” to fall from their eyes and to see that the Holy Catholic Church has always been, and will always remain, the pillar and foundation of Truth – because she is nothing less than the Body of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Good Works are God's Grace

The readings for this past Sunday (Fourth Week of Lent) were 2 Chron 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; and Jn 3:14-21. Upon first glance, the common thread between these three readings might not be completely evident. For ease of reference, here are the readings:

2 Chron 36:14-16, 19-23

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people
added infidelity to infidelity,
practicing all the abominations of the nations
and polluting the LORD's temple
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
"Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled."
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!"

Eph 2:4-10

Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ - by grace you have been saved -,
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

Jn 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

In the first reading, we read that Cyrus, king of Persia, decreed that the Israelites were to go and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem – which had previously been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. But what is particularly important about his decree is that Cyrus emphatically states that his directive came from God Himself.

In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that we are saved by faith through nothing other than God’s grace. In other words, we are not saved by our own works. Now, this isn’t the same as saying that we are saved by faith ALONE apart from works, as suggested by Martin Luther (and subsequent Protestantism) because St. James clearly taught that faith alone is dead if it is apart from works (Jms 2:14-26). Ultimately, faith and works go hand in hand. So what is St. Paul saying here? He is saying that we are saved by God’s grace through faith and that the purpose of God’s redeeming us in Christ is so that we might live lives filled with good works (making good works coupled with our faith necessary for our salvation).

Finally, in the Gospel reading we are told that those who live the truth live in the light because they are not ashamed of their good works being made manifest. But, that’s not all that St. John tells us. He says that the good works of those following Christ are “clearly seen as done in God”. All the good works that we as Christians perform are done in God – this is because it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us (Gal 2:20).

In light of the above, what we see Holy Church trying to remind us of is that any good works we do are done only by the grace of God working in our lives. Faith and works are necessary for salvation – but we need always to remember that faith and works are both gifts from God – and that is why St. Paul tells us that we can’t boast in ourselves, but rather that our boast should be in God and God alone.

St. Augustine put it this way:

“Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due...Our merits are God’s gifts.”

The Council of Trent affirmed this when it stated:

“The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness.”

It is no mistake or coincidence that the Church has declared the above passages to be the Scripture readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent either. Because it marks the mid-point of Lent, it is a good opportunity to reflect on how we have been tracking in our Lenten commitments. For some of us, it might mean that we haven’t been as faithful as we would’ve liked and so it becomes an opportunity to redouble our efforts going forward. For others, it might mean that we can look back at a fairly successful Lent so far – but before we start to think too highly of ourselves, these readings come as a timely reminder that if we have been faithful in our Lenten commitments, it is only because we have been co-operating with God’s grace in our lives – and His grace is the ultimate source of all the good works that we do.

So, at this mid-point in the Lenten season, let us keep praying for one another. We should especially take the time to thank God for the ways that we have been faithful thus far, and ask Him to continue to help us in to be faithful in the remainder of our Lenten journey towards Easter.

And last, but certainly not least, let’s not forget that we have God’s great gift of the Saints in Heaven, and especially our Blessed Mother Mary, whom we can ask for help as well. As the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us and know our struggles, they love us and want to see us succeed in our walk with God. So, may we never cease to ask them for their intercession on our behalf before the Throne of Grace.

Dressed for a Wedding

In this week’s Gospel reading (Matt 22:1-14), our Lord continues the theme of Israel’s rejection of God and how the Kingdom is taken from them in the parable of the Wedding Banquet. In addition to some of the thoughts from last Sunday's Gospel reading  (Matt 21:33-43), today’s Gospel gives us a bit more food for mediation.

It is no coincidence that our Lord uses a marriage feast in this parable when He speaks about the salvation that He offers. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the marriage feast is used to refer to the Eucharist, either directly (e.g. Rev 19:7-9) or indirectly (e.g. Jn 2:1ff) – and it is in the Most Holy Eucharist that we most fully receive the salvation that our Lord Jesus offers us (Jn 6:53-55).

It is important to notice that the call to the Marriage Supper is a free call – because salvation is offered to anyone who comes to God asking, seeking, and knocking (Rev 22:17; Matt 7:7ff). But this is no “easy-believism” because salvation goes deeper than simply answering to an initial call. This is where the significance of the wedding garment comes in.

According to ancient custom, the host of the wedding would provide each of the wedding guests with a wedding garment. In this way, the wedding garment of Jesus’ parable refers to something that God gives to us so that we are worthy to participate in the Marriage Supper. However, according to St. John, in the Marriage Supper, the white garments that the Saints are clothed with are their own righteous deeds (Rev 19:8; it is also interesting to note that 19:9 bestows blessing upon those who are invited to the Marriage Supper, linking it back to Jesus’ parable). Furthermore, St. James tells us that faith without works is dead (Jms 2:26). This is exactly what our Lord Jesus is teaching in this parable when He speaks of the wedding garment. The person being reprimanded was certainly invited to the wedding, and he is even called “friend” (v 12). Although he accepted the invitation to the banquet, when he showed up he wasn’t dressed appropriately. And on this basis, he is actually cast out of the wedding banquet (v 13).

Tying this all together then, this should serve as a reminder to us that whilst the call of the Gospel is completely free – it requires more than a simple response of faith for salvation. The “more” that is required is a life of righteousness.  In other words, whilst we are certainly saved by our faith, we are not saved by faith alone. Rather, our faith needs to be accompanied by good works lest it be judged that our faith, albeit real, is actually dead.

And lest we grow proud in self-righteousness, we would always do well to remember that even our good works, although our own, are themselves a gift from God by His Holy Spirit working in and through us.

This means that our salvation – from start to finish – is completely and utterly a work of God’s grace (Eph 2:8-9). Which is why St. Paul admonishes us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who is at work within us who enables us to have the desire to do good...and then to fulfil that desire (Phil 2:12-13).

So, when we find ourselves struggling to obey God as we walk with Him, let us look to the example of the Saints who are already clothed in white garments; let us ask also for their intercession as we pray to God for His help; and let us trust that when we ask in faith, God will be faithful in responding by giving us a greater measure of His Holy Spirit.

Justification – the Necessity of Works

A common, and unfair, accusation levelled against us Catholics is that we believe that we are justified by works. The reason that this accusation is made is because we do not adhere to Martin Luther’s doctrine of Sola Fide i.e. that justification is by faith alone and without any good works at all.   

In my days as a non-Catholic Christian, I firmly held to the Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide. It was a teaching that I really didn’t question because, as far as I knew, it was the most basic and fundamental principle of Christianity. After all, wasn’t this the one thing that the Protestant Reformers rescued from the wicked “Papists” who for so long had led people to believe that we are saved by our works?

On one level, I missed the logical fact that to believe is itself a work. But more importantly, I failed to realise that the Catholic Church, as the pillar and foundation of truth, was actually right on the teaching of justification all along. Thanks be to God, He was gracious enough to allow me to see that Sola Fide is unscriptural and that the teaching of the Protestant Reformers was not in line with what the Church has taught since the time of the Apostles.

Just because we Catholics do not believe we are saved by faith alone, Protestants tend to think that this must mean that we believe we are saved by works. This is unfair reasoning at best, and really is not what the Catholic Church teaches. Rather, the Church teaches that we are in fact saved by faith, but that faith is not alone i.e. saving faith is necessarily and always accompanied by good works.

One of the “proof-texts” used by Protestants to back up their doctrine of Sola Fide is Eph 2:8-9 where St. Paul says:

“...by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”

But this verse should not be read in isolation, because St. James tells us quite emphatically:

“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead...You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Jms 2:17,24

A reading of the entire passage in James 2 will reveal that in St. James’ argument, a “dead faith” is a very real faith (even the devils believe and tremble – v19); but it is a dead faith nonetheless. Following St. James’ thought, if justification is by faith alone (as Protestants suggest); then the devil himself would be justified by his faith. On the flip-side of this “dead faith” is a faith which MUST be accompanied by good works if it is to be living and life-giving.

Origen, writing early in the third century affirmed this when he said:

“Whoever dies in his sins, even if he professes to believe in Christ, does not truly believe in Him; and even if that which exists without works be called faith, such faith is dead in itself, as we read in the Epistle bearing the name of James.” – Commentaries on John

So, how do we reconcile what St. James says about works and faith with what St. Paul’s teaching? One way of looking at the above verses is to perceive that St. James teaches us that we are not saved by faith alone, whilst St. Paul teaches us that we are not saved by works alone. Rather, we need to see that neither faith nor works stand alone. They stand together hand-in-hand and both are gifts from God. So, even though we are saved by faith AND works, it ultimately comes back to the fact that we are saved by God’s grace and God’s grace ALONE.

This is also echoed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:  

“Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation...without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life but he who endures to the end. Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man...” CCC #161-162

“Our justification comes from the grace of God...” CCC # 1996

Interestingly, when one examines the Gospels, you will find that our Lord placed more emphasis on good works than He did on faith. His parable of the wedding banquet (Matt 22:1-14) bears this out when He speaks of the person without the wedding robe being case into outer darkness (v 12-13). Comparing this passage with St. John’s Revelation, we find that the fine linen garment “is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev 19:8).

So if we desire to enter into the presence of God when our earthly sojourn is complete, let us never cease in our pursuit of holiness and good works in faith, without which we can never see God (Heb 12:14). And let us do so in faith, because without faith, it is impossible for our good works to please God (Heb 11:6).