On Being Saved

Introduction

Liturgical bearings

In honor of Jesus’ forty-day fast in the desert the church instituted Lent--a season of fast, prayer and good works in preparation for the feast of Easter. So from Ash Wednesday till Easter there are forty-fast days (Sundays excluded because you don’t fast on Sundays). From Easter until Ascension Thursday (that would be this coming Thursday) there are another forty days, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles, “For forty days after his death he appeared to his Apostles many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive “ (Acts. 1:2-3). Then after those forty days Jesus bade us farewell and was taken up (Acts 1:9). As we said, forty days after Easter Sunday gives us Ascension Thursday, which would be this coming Thursday, but here in the US the Ascension is moved to next Sunday to enable us all to come to Mass and celebrate that feast.

“I am going away, but I will come back to you” (Jn 14:28). These words of the gospel today were spoken in Jesus’ lifetime, and they refer directly and immediately to his death--his first farewell to us. But they are placed before us on this sixth Sunday of Easter because they also apply well to Jesus’ second and final farewell to us—his Ascension into heaven. Here’s where we are at this particular liturgical moment.

The Jerusalem Council

The event described in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles at first might not seem very relevant to us today. Some Jewish converts to Christianity were telling Gentile (non-Jewish) converts, “You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised as the Law of Moses requires” (Acts 15:1-2). That stirred up a heated debate. So Paul, Barnabas and others went to Jerusalem to confer with the Apostles and elders there about that burning issue. Even in Jerusalem some of the Jewish converts were insisting that non-Jewish converts be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. That so-called “Law of Moses” (singular) was really a huge accumulation of 613 major laws with a whole constellation of minor laws besides. A heavy burden, indeed!

In Jerusalem they called a meeting. Peter rose to relate how God had shown approval of Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, and how many of them had turned to belief in Christ. ”It is that belief, not the observance of the Law of Moses,” Peter insisted, “which saves them, just as it saves us.” Then he made a bold admission saying, “Why place on the backs of Gentile converts a burden which was so heavy that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry it” (Acts 15:10)?

Then Apostle James rose to say, “It is my opinion that we should not trouble our non-Jewish brethren who are turning to God. Instead, let’s simply write them a letter, giving them a few necessary rules to follow, and let’s let it go at that” (Acts 15:19-20).

The council wrote this letter: “We, the apostles and elders send greetings to all the brothers of Gentile birth who live in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. The Holy spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you except these few necessary rules: eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourself from unlawful marriages. You will do well if you keep yourselves from doing these things. Farewell” (15:23-29).

The messengers returned to Antioch, gathered the assembly of believers there and delivered the letter to them. Acts says, “When the letter was read to the people, they were filled with joy by its message of encouragement” (Acts 15:1-35).

The Vatican Council

That early church council in Jerusalem has sometimes been called the church’s very first Ecumenical Council. In her 2000 year existence there have been only seven councils that are recognized as truly Ecumenical Councils. Not many Catholics experience an Ecumenical Council in their life time, as we experienced Vatican II which convened in 1962 and lasted four years. Before Vatican II there was Vatican I which convened in 1869 and lasted one year. But before Vatican I there was the Council of Trent convened in 1543. So from Vatican I back to Trent there was an interval of 306 years without any Ecumenical Council at all.[1] Though such councils were, indeed, rare occurrences in times past, today things are moving so swiftly that the church now, in my opinion, is ready for and is in great need of a Vatican III.

The old burdens

When Vatican II concluded in ‘66, like the Council of Jerusalem, it also wrote us a letter; in fact, it wrote us 13 letters--13 new documents with which to guide the life of the church through a painful period of reconstruction that lay ahead. Like the Council of Jerusalem, it also announced to us the decision of the Holy Spirit and its own to lay no further burden upon us except that which is strictly necessary.

Many of us remember the many burdens of the old church before Vatican II. We remember how one piece of meat eaten on a Friday or one sin hidden in Confession or one “bad thought” (sexual, of course) entertained with delight or one gulp of water accidentally swallowed before Holy Communion or one Mass missed of a Sunday morning weighed heavily upon our consciences. Then came Vatican II which announced to us that the Council and the Holy Spirit had decided to lay no further burdens upon us except the gospel burden of justice and charity.

The new burden

Like the people at Antioch, when the letter from the Council of Jerusalem was read to them, some of us were filled with joy by the message of encouragement that came from Vatican II. We were delighted that the 613 laws were lifted from our backs and were now replaced with the gospel law of justice and charity. We probably didn’t suspect at that time that such a law gives us no rest. Others, however, were filled with sadness and even with anger that the 613 laws, which kept them busy as Roman Catholics, were lifted from their backs. They probably suspected that their rest was over!

Still angry

Some are still angry after all these years. In the New York Times for Sunday, April 8, 2001, one group took out this ad: “We commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of the 20^th century’s greatest Catholic churchman (referring to French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre). We admire his unshakable heroic faith. We applaud his defense of Catholicism against the errors of Vatican II and against the new Mass in English instead of Latin. THANK YOU, YOUR GRACE.”

In the year 2004 Mel Gibson also is still angry at Vatican II. In an interview on TV (which I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears, so it’s not second-hand) he said that no priest may say Mass in his private chapel who does not say it in Latin. It is his belief, he added, that “transubstantiation” (the substance of bread changes into the substance of Christ’s body) no longer happens in the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II. That’s tantamount to this ardent Roman Catholic saying that in the Eucharist, in the Sunday assembly, Catholics have lost the very body and blood of Christ.

Beware!

The opening words of the first reading come to mind, “You cannot be saved unless you are circumcised.” “You cannot be saved unless you say Mass in Latin or follow the old church.”

Beware whenever anyone, especially religious people, tells you, “You can’t be saved unless you do this or that.” We Catholics especially can appreciate that warning. In the aftermath of Vatican II many were surprised and filled with consternation to discover that you could eat meat on Friday and still be saved. That you could miss Mass on Sunday and still be saved. That you could divorce and even remarry and still go to heaven. That you could die without confession and still go to heaven.

Catholics remember particularly an old theological saying of Origen, a church father of the third century: “Extra ecclesiam nulla salus.” ”Outside the church there is no salvation.” That dictum is filled with all sorts of problems, and it should have been ditched. It wasn’t. It became oft-repeated down through the centuries until Vatican II. Now we find that non-Catholics (like Lutherans) and even non-Christians (like Buddhists or Moslems) can go to heaven.

Parables about salvation

In the gospel today Jesus tells the Apostles he is leaving them and going to the right hand of the Father, and the Father is going to send them the Holy Spirit. “He will teach you everything and will remind you of all that I told you,” says Jesus (Jn. 14:26). What did Jesus tell us? He didn’t tell us religious truths. He told us parables of salvation like,

Once upon a time there was a very rich man who dressed in purple, and who ate splendidly everyday. But down at the gate lay a poor beggar named Lazarus whose sores the dogs were licking as he begged for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. With time both Lazarus and Dives, the rich man, died. The poor man was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man was buried in Hades where he was in great torment, and from there he called up to Lazarus to dip the tips of his fingers into water and comfort his parched throat (Lk 16:19-31).

The Holy Spirit will remind us of all that Jesus told us. He didn’t tell us religious truths. He told us parables of salvation like,

Once upon a time a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell in with robbers who relieved him of his money, beat him to a pulp and left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest, who saw the poor man, crossed the street and passed him by. Along came a Levite, who did the same. Finally along came a Samaritan, who saw the dying man, poured the oil of compassion into his wounds, hoisted him on to his beast of burden and hurried him off to the nearest inn where he dug deeply into his pockets to pay for the man’s care and cure (Lk 10: 25-37).

With time everybody died. The man left half-dead by robbers died, and like Lazarus starving at the gate was carried to the bosom of Abraham. The blessed Good Samaritan also died, and he too was carried to the bosom of Abraham. But when the Jewish priest and Levite died they were buried in Hades where they were in great torment. From there they called up to the Lazarus and the Good Samaritan to dip the tips of their fingers in water and comfort their parched throats.

Conclusion

Ite Missa est!

If someone says you cannot be saved unless you are circumcised or baptized or confessed, don’t believe him. If someone says you cannot be saved unless you say Mass in Latin or follow the old church, don’t believe him.

If someone says you cannot be saved unless you show justice and charity to the poor man lying out there by your gate starving, believe him. If someone says you cannot be saved unless you pour the oil of compassion upon people who are wounded or hurting, believe him.

Ite Missa est! Go, the Mass is ended! Go forth and make a difference on the highway of life, and sinner though you be, you shall be saved.

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[1] Trent lasted for 18 years and concluded in 1563. It lasted so long because of the enormous task of dealing with the Protestant Reformation which was threatening the life of the Catholic Church.