Faith versus works. Does our salvation and righteousness depend on faith or good works? Which one? While Christians have been, and still are, battling over this issue, the question should not be phrased as an either-or-type of question. It is both faith and works that put us in a right relationship with God. Defining our terms in this theological issue is important and has been the cause of much misunderstanding and controversy.

One of the causes of this disagreement arises from Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Romans. For instance in today’s first reading at Mass [Romans 4:1-7], Paul states:
if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God. For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  [v. 2-3]

When Paul is speaking of works, he is speaking about having to follow all of the rituals of the Jewish people such as the 10 commandments for sure. But he is also referring to all of the other 600 or so “commandments” of the Jewish people such as washing hands prior to meals, fasting, kosher diet, etc. In the verse above, Paul uses Abraham as a proof that all of the Jewish ritual works do not put us in a right relationship (righteousness) with God. Abraham was a gentile who did not have the 10 commandments and who followed none of the Jewish religious works but still had a “right relationship” with God. The cause of this relationship was his faith. God promised him descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky; that he and his descendants would be a blessing for all people; and that he would have land to live in. God promised and Abraham put his faith in the promises.

Righteousness, or a right relationship with God, is God’s gift to us. It is grace. Believing in God’s promises, His love, His desire to be in a covenantal relationship with us… all of this is God’s gift. Or grace. We receive the gift, say thank you (Eucharist), and put our faith in God. But our relationship does not stop there.

For Catholics at baptism, we become sharers in God’s divine nature. That is what it means to say that we are children of God. The challenge is to manifest to the world the gift that we have been given. The best way to show this gift given to us is by living as children of God. In other words, by the lives that we live and the works that we do. We live by faith as children of God. Jesus reminds us of this fact, for example, in Luke’s gospel:
Then his mother and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." [Luke 8:19-21]

Today we celebrate Saint Theresa of Avila, a mystic and doctor of the church. She reminds us in one of her prayers that God is counting on the faith that inspires our works to make God known to the whole world:
Christ has no body now but yours… No hands, no feet on earth but yours…. Yours are the eyes through which He looks… Compassion on this world… Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good… Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands…. Yours are the feet…Yours are the eyes… You are His body… Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Listen carefully to the words. As members of the Body of Christ, God wants the work of our hands and the words from our mouths, etc. to make God’s presence known to the world. God did not have to choose to do things this way. BUT HE DID!!!!

In Saint Theresa’s book The Interior Castle, she wrote about the connection between love of God and love of neighbor. It is the love of neighbor, as she writes, that can manifest our love for God:
we can know whether we love our neighbor. And be certain that the more advanced you see you are in love for your neighbor the more advanced you will be in the love of God, for the love His Majesty has for us is so great that to repay us for our love of neighbor He will in a thousand ways increase the love we have for Him. I cannot doubt this. That is why it's important for us to walk with careful attention to how we are proceeding in this matter, for if we practice love of neighbor with great perfection, we will have done everything. I believe that, since our nature is bad, we will not reach perfection in the love of neighbor if that love doesn't rise from love of God as its root.

Jesus in today’s gospel reminds us that nothing can be totally hidden. How we live and what we do will come to light. Have we come to accept the gift of our relationship with God through His Son or not?
There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. [Luke 12:3-4]
If we are in a right relationship with God (righteousness before God) then it will be manifested by our lives. If not, we won’t be able to hide the fact. In other words, our holiness will or will not be manifested to others. Currently with cameras installed by local governments and cell phones able to record events, it is difficult to hide our actions. Think of how many politicians, for instance, have said something which got them into a lot of hot water, because they did not realize that the microphone was still on; someone had a cell phone and was recording the incident, etc. Jesus is reminding us that we cannot hide whether we are in a right relationship with Him or not.

As Saint Paul reminds us, our relationship with God will be manifested by a spirit of thanksgiving on our part for what God has done for us. And, secondly, by how we become instruments of the love of God that God has poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit [Romans 5:5]

 

Saint Paul uses a lot of big theological terms in the first reading at Mass today [Romans 3:21-30]. Words such as justified, redeemed, and expiation. Paul is ultimately talking about our reconciliation with God via the sacrificial action of Christ on the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection manifests the justice of God.

One way to consider God’s justice is that God acts out of his nature, which, as Saint John has taught us in his first letter, is LOVE or mercy. For instance, in the Romans reading today:
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus [v. 23-24]
That is Good News! Paul is teaching us in the first reading that we need to put our faith in the God of love.

Saint Paul mentions God’s justice in other letters. For instance in Ephesians:
But 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 [Ephesians 2:4-6]

Even some of the Old Testament authors wrote of God’s justice as manifested as his mercy and kindness:
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. The LORD is good to all,
compassionate toward all your works [Psalm 145:8-9]

Saint Callistus, today’s saint, reminds us of God’s nature of love and mercy. He was a slave in an important official’s household. When the future saint mismanaged some money, he was sent to prison. He was released but arrested again for causing a disturbance in a synagogue. Through the intercession of an influential person, he was released from prison a second time and also freed from slavery. The future saint managed a Christian cemetery that still exists today, Eventually, Pope St. Zephyrinus ordained Callistus a deacon and relied upon him as an adviser. After the pope’s death in 217, Callistus was chosen to succeed him as the sixteenth Bishop of Rome.

Saint Callistus also learned from his experience of God’s mercy. As Paul stated, Callistus had fallen short of the glory of God by his sinful actions but he had also experienced God’s faithful love. Hence, Callistus was merciful towards Christians who had denied their faith in order to avoid martyrdom but later repented.

The saint’s actions remind us that for us to be just, we also need to act out of nature. God is love and mercy, and so, as children of God, we must live and practice these same qualities. One way that we can “love” others is to “speak the truth in love” to those who have gone astray.

Jesus in the gospel speaks of the prophets and how the religious leaders are fulfilling the work of their ancestors:
Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them. Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. [Luke 11:6-48]

The prophets were often killed because their message of repentance [all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God] was unwelcomed by the Jewish people. They preferred to follow their will instead of God’s will. Now the scholars of the law are building monuments to these martyr prophets as a way of honoring only the DEAD prophets. The living ones among them? Disregard them as did their ancestors.

As children of God, we need to listen to the prophets among us who call us to faithfulness and to repentance. Cardinal Dolan wrote about John the Baptist in a book with some reflections on the advent Mass readings. He wrote how John’s message of repentance is not accepted in our current world, despite, as Saint Paul wrote, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
John the Baptist’s call to repentance is often not heard in our age where affirming one another is the goal. Today people might say to John the Baptist, “Let me bring you up to date. Your call to repentance , that may have been gone places 2000 years ago, but sin is out of vogue now. You have to affirm people now. You have to tell them how good they. You have to be nice, John. You see, the philosophy of today is ‘I’m OK, you’re OK.’ There is no need of repentance, because there is no sin, John.

Living holy lives as God’s children reminds others of what Christ has done for us and how to live with the freedom belonging to God’s children. Living holy lives as God’s children will also be a life that entails hardships. We should not be surprised. Jesus told us so.

 

There once was a robber who changed his life and became a monk. He was summoned to a community meeting at which a certain brother monk was to be condemned for his faults. The monk arrived at the meeting dragging behind him an old basket from which sand was pouring out through several holes. When he was asked why he was doing this, the monk replied, “My sins are running behind me and I do not see them and today I come to judge another

Paul in his letter to the Romans at Mass today [Romans 2:1-11] is criticizing some of the Jewish people, especially the religious leaders, for their judgmental attitudes, especially towards gentiles:
Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? [Romans 2:1-3]
In his second chapter in the letter to the Romans, Paul focuses on the Jewish people. While the Jewish people have the privileges of a covenantal relationship with God, they, like the gentiles, will be judged by God not based upon their privileges but instead upon their performance. Did they love God and love their neighbor as themselves?

Jesus continues the criticism of some of the Jewish religious leaders in the gospel [Luke 11:42-46] Jesus is critical of how some of the Pharisees focus on the minutia of the law and forget the larger picture:
Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. [Luke 11:42]

In addition, the religious leaders are leading others astray, or, in other words, causing scandal by their behavior:
Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk." [v.44]
To touch a dead person would make someone unclean according to the Jewish law. By walking on a dead person’s grave, someone would make him/herself unclean but not realize what he or she had done. The Pharisees with their supposed holiness are leading some of God’s flock astray. Scandalous!

Judging others has been a practice from the beginning of time after the fall of Adam and Eve. I think that it is an art that is being perfected in our day. With the internet, we can hide our identities as we criticize and judge others. Furthermore as we lose our sense of sin, we are not even aware of our judgmental attitudes.

Some people based on their beliefs feel superior to others and they judge them. For instance some of the theories currently popular today look at past generations and criticize them for their sins. While this criticism is justified, the cause of our ancestors’ errors were their sinful nature. Something we all suffer from.

Sadly, as we judge past generations over their sinful actions and nature, we tend to forget our own sinful natures and actions. For instance, Jesus means God saves. He saves us from our sins. Yet how many really focus on their personal sins? It is easier to feel superior to past generations who committed sins like slavery and segregation while we forget our own sinful actions. Yet how will future generations judge us? Abortion? Euthanasia? The American bishops wrote a number of years ago that a society is judged based on how the least among us are doing? The Church has taught for a number of years the fundamental option for the poor. When we make decisions such as political ones, we should base the decision on how it will affect positively or negatively the least among us.

We should never forget, especially during this liturgical year when our Sunday gospels are from Mark’s gospel, that repentance/contrition/metanoia were the first words from Jesus’ mouth as he began his public ministry:
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." [Mark 1:14-15]
Because metanoia (conversion of heart) was one of Jesus’ first words in his public ministry and also a theme throughout his public ministry, maybe we should listen carefully its call to conversion.

Maybe the place to start is judging ourselves. The reality in the Catholic Church is that confession is becoming an unused sacrament. During the pandemic and for many months afterwards, I increased the hours and days in which I would be available for confessions in the church. Recently I cut back on both the days and the length of confessions. The reason? I did not need to sit in church by myself and no one coming to confession. It is easy to overlook how easily all of us fall into the sin of judgmentalism when we never examine our own lives. For instance, Paul mentions some of God’s qualities in the first reading at Mass:
do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance? [v.4]
As Christians we are disciples called to make God’s presence known and experienced in the world. How do our actions manifest the kindness, forbearance and patience of God? Or is Christianity simply a mask that we wear?

Every time we come to Mass, we begin with a penitential rite. Is this simply a ritual to perform or a reminder that we need to become more aware of our own sins before we start judging others of their sinful actions?

 

As we start reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans at daily Mass, Paul is concerned about salvation by faith. Some of the Jewish people at that time were more concerned about performing all of the correct ritual actions and, by means of fulfilling all of the ritual demands, to be “justified” in God’s sight. We see this issue being manifested in today’s gospel. Jesus does not wash his hands per the prescribed rituals before he begins to dine at the Pharisee’s house:
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.

Opposing this focus on ritual actions for one’s salvation, salvation by faith means that there is an inner transformation that occurs inside of us. Pope Benedict in his encyclical about love began by describing this inner transformation for Christians. Being a Christian is an encounter with the risen lord that transforms everything about a person:
Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. [God Is Love, #1]

Saint Paul describes what this transformation means for him in his letter to the Galatians, Paul’s first letter focused on salvation by faith and not by one’s works:
 I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

In today’s first reading at Mass [Romans 1:16-25], Saint Paul mentions that gentiles, or non-Christians, should recognize that there is a God by means of the awesomeness of creation and that this awareness should lead to an inner transformation:
For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. [v. 20-21]
When I was taking biochemistry in college, I became aware of the amazing miracle that we call our human bodies, I kept thinking that anyone who studied biochemisty HAD to believe in God. There was no other way that our miraculous bodies could perform the unbelievable chemical reactions that occur daily unless there was a divine Wisdom behind it all. Yet, I remember one of my classmates arguing with the lab manager about the existence of God.

One of the transformations that must occur in believers, arising from our faith, is that we worship the creator and not the creature. As Saint Paul states in the first reading:
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. [Romans 1:25]
Yet this exchange where the creature is worshipped instead of the creature is so prevalent in our world today. People can believe in God yet live as if God is totally immaterial to daily live. Or, in other words, God is for all practical purposes “dead.”

When we worship the creature and not the creator, the “creature” becomes unintelligible, as the church states. We forget out dignity and worth. We can easily think of ourselves as just one other organism on earth. No longer do we believe the words of God at the beginning of creation when God made them male and female:
Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. [Genesis 1:26-27]

Saint John Paul II in his first encyclical about Christ our Redeemer wrote the importance for Christians to worship the creator and our savior, Jesus Christ:
The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly-and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being-he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must "appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. … In reality, the name for that deep amazement at man's worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good News. It is also called Christianity. This amazement determines the Church's mission in the world and, perhaps even more so, "in the modern world".  [Redemptor hominis, #10]

This amazement determines the Church's mission in the world and, perhaps even more so, "in the modern world". Saint Paul understood the importance of this mission and so he wrote this letter to the Romans. Hopefully we understand the importance of this mission in our world that seems to be casting God and God’s wisdom aside and replacing it with our human wisdom and the human person as “god.”