(Rom 3: 21-30; Ps130: 1B-2, 3-4, 5-6B; Lk 11: 47,-54)
We human beings tend to like things that are neatly defined and easy to understand. Unfortunately, life tends to be messy and difficult; and scripture doesn’t always hand us the teachings of God our Father in tidy little boxes. We know that even the disciples had a hard time understanding Jesus’ parables. Christ illustrates through his parables that contemplation is required to understand God; that we must dig deeper in our quest to know Him and enter into the mystery of what God has revealed to us (Mathew 13:10-17). Entering into this mystery also requires trust and faith in our teacher. The apostles trusted Jesus and he lead them gently to grow in their believe that He is the Christ, the anointed one. So must we trust Jesus, contemplate his life, death and resurrection, and we will grow in our faith.
In the first reading, St. Paul delivers the good news very clearly (thank you St. Paul!). He tells us that faith in Jesus Christ is the key to redemption, and that salvation is available to all human beings who have the heart and trust to believe in Him. Prior to God’s saving gift, his Son, the Jewish faithful relied on the law to ensure that they were following the will of God the father. The problem is the tendency to make the law itself more important than the reasons for the law. It is easy to loose sight of what is really important, and rather, just go through the motions of what appears to be a holy life. This is just what Jesus is talking about in our gospel selection from Luke:
“Woe to you, scholar of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter” (11:52).
Prior to this verse, He quite strongly points out to these so called holy men, that their interior life does not match their exterior life (Lk 11:39-40). How often do we see this same problem today?! It is all to easy to fall into this trap which causes our faith grows cold and weak.
Faith is a gift from God that we come to through exercising our free will and choosing belief in the person of Jesus. This virtue, which St. Paul is imploring us to explore, is absolutely essential but it is not the only piece of the puzzle. We also need works of charity (i.e. love) which become the action of faith. We Catholics believe strongly in faith and works, not one or the other; and in fact, these things need each other. Practicing God’s law without striving to know God is as empty as faith in God without practicing love. The reading from Romans should be a clear warning to all of us to not just go through the motions of going to Mass, praying before meals, fasting on Ash Wednesday, but rather to seek for deeper understanding of the Pascal mystery and a deeper relationship with our Lord. I purpose that the more we work on that interior relationship with Christ, the more we will want to attend Mass, pray, fast, and serve the needy. These are wonderful things and they really help our spiritual life grow, but it is important that our outside actions match our inside heart.
The scripture readings today reminds us to guard against self righteous thoughts and actions, and reminds us that we are all sinners in need of repentance and salvation. They also remind us that Jesus Christ came to save us all, Jews and Gentiles, saints and sinners. This is good news indeed! I pray that our lives reflect the humility necessary to enter into a contemplative life of faith, and that our faith propels us into the action of love. As Jesus tells us,
“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
