My hope, O Lord, is in Your Mercy"
Today's Mass Readings
Who among us will be saved? It is a question as relevant today as it was in Jesus’ own day. Despite the many easy formulas and quick-fix remedies presented in the popular media and on the shelves of our bookstores, the Cross is a stark reminder that salvation is no easy affair. There is no 30-day path to guaranteed holiness. St. Paul tells us in the first reading that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” and Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel that even those who eat and drink in the Lord’s company may be condemned as “evildoers.” Perhaps it was this realization that led the individual in today’s Gospel to ask, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Before we can understand Jesus’ response to the question, we must briefly place the Gospel passage into context. The question of salvation comes on the heels of Jesus’ parry with the Pharisees over the question of judgment. The Pharisees saw themselves as the epitome of holiness, and therefore believed that their salvation was assured. In Luke 12 and again in Luke 13 Jesus repeatedly condemns this certitude as a form of self-righteousness that leads to injustice. He warns his followers against such hypocrisy. Paradoxically, Jesus teaches that true holiness does not involve the certainty of sanctity, but rather the awareness of ones sinfulness; true holiness requires repentance. Hence, when Jesus is finally asked who will be saved in Luke 13:22-30, his response is rhetorical. He answers, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” In the very next passage in Luke, we see Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day Jerusalem was a walled city accessed through one of twelve gates. The narrow gate that leads to salvation is the self-emptying path that leads to Jerusalem (God’ City) via the Cross. Jesus ultimately presents an understanding of salvation diametrically opposed to the pride of the Pharisees and all who would be self-righteous.
Asking who will be saved is a dangerous question. In this past Sunday’s Gospel (also from Luke) Jesus condemns the Pharisees because they were “convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” Their certainty lead to presumption, and their presumption to hypocrisy and injustice. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day are not unlike those in our own who use their Christianity as an avenue of pride. How often is faith used as an excuse for legitimating a sense of superiority that results in arrogance, condemnation, racism…even violence? How often do we look upon the lives of others and thank God (however subtly) that we are superior? Jesus tells us that when we behave in this way, we behave like those who will be cast out of the Kingdom into a place where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
In proclaiming the certainty of their sanctity, the Pharisees proclaimed that they had no need of God. Their boasting became their condemnation. When St. Paul tells us in today’s first reading that we do not even know how to pray correctly, he reminds us that we need God’s help. Today’s Psalm assures us that the Lord is our help; he is good to us. Indeed, God the Father comes to the aid of our weakness by sending his only begotten Son to purchase for us the rewards of eternal life. God the Son comes to the aid of our weakness by paying the price of our salvation on the Cross. And God the Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness by interceding for us with inexpressible groanings.
Let us add our own prayer to that of the Holy Spirit by standing before the altar of God like the tax-collector and proclaiming, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Please use today's Psalm response to end this reflection. Psalm Response
Michael Lombardo