Go and Do Likewise!

In September I will give my presentation on Faith and Works and how a person is saved.  With today’s readings I felt it would be both appropriate and also an opportunity to give you some food for thought beforehand.   The presentation is a way’s away, but I think you will remember the major points.  Today’s readings do not directly spell out a way “of being saved,” they nevertheless paint a clear a picture of what God demands our faith to be.  Let’s take a look.

         

In the first reading from Deuteronomy the voice of God spoken through Moses declares, “For this command I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.  No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”  What are the Israelites to carry out, God’s Law, in particular the Ten Commandments.  If we carry out the Law then as Kind David so eloquently writes in the Psalms, “The Law of the LORD is perfect; refreshing the soul . . . The precepts of the Lord are right; rejoicing the heart.”  When we follow the law and live virtuously we are happy.  When we disobey the law of the Lord we feel guilty, saddened, and even sometimes become hard of heart.  Finally in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”  The law must be transcended; love must be our ultimate law, as was the case with the Good Samaritan.

From our readings today and what we know of the Church’s teaching we still ask ourselves, how do I get to Heaven?  Here are some responses I have been given over the years.

1)   I never killed anyone or committed adultery, I should get to heaven.

2)   If I do more good than evil I will be saved.

3)   All I have to do is believe in Jesus as personal Lord and Savior.

None of those are exactly right, if not misleading.  The notion that I never killed anyone or committed adultery is very minimalistic, what about greed, perjury, false witness, lying, missing mass, selfishness, lust, pride, or any of the other deadly sins.  To make one’s morality the whole of two sins clearly shows that the person is lacking a relationship with God and also not understanding what it means to be holy.  When one is in a relationship with God the first thing they will try to do is please Him, no different than when a child tries to please its parents.  This is how a child shows love and it’s appreciation for being loved.  If your child centered their whole existence and relationship around you with only avoiding two things, there would be really no relationship, nor would you put up with that as parents, you would naturally demand much more.

The second notion that I do more good than evil is also false for most of us.  There are canonized saints whom we know lived very holy lives and their sins were either very few or almost none at all, though they considered themselves terrible sinners, a feeling they had that came from humility.  Most of us on the other hand are a mixed bag, we are somewhat good and somewhat evil, we do good things and we do evil things.  St. Paul is very clear on this and he is so because he is protecting the concept of being saved by grace.  He says in Romans chapter three, “No one is good, no, not even one.”  He is basically arguing that we all need God’s grace to be saved; we cannot achieve it on our own.  If a person thinks they can get to heaven by following the Law, then they must follow it perfectly and do so always, for even the smallest offense makes one a breaker of the entire law and the person is justly condemned by God.

There are some Christians who believe that one must make an altar call or declare that Jesus is their personal Lord and Savior.  If not, one cannot be saved.  It is at this moment (when one declares Jesus as personal Lord and Savior that one is born again).  Catholics have nothing against calling Jesus or declaring Jesus one’s personal Lord and Savior, for He is.  The problems arise when one then does away with works of faith and love.  The easiest way to describe this is, what if a person tells you I am born again but then that night they cheat on their spouse, the next day they embezzle money, the day after they do physical harm to someone, would you consider that person a good and faithful Christian, no, of course not, for Jesus tells us, “You shall know them by their fruits.”

How are we saved, is it by faith or works?  The answer is both, but we could do neither if God did not give us the initial grace to be faithful and to do good.  He gave us that grace at Baptism and He continues to give it to us in the sacraments and in other moments of our lives.  As Catholics we never separate faith and works for we take the word “and” very seriously.

Jesus does not end today’s Gospel by only saying, “Believe what I am telling you about the Good Samaritan,” nor does He ever say, “You must only believe,” rather He says, “Go and do likewise!”  Again, our Lord tells us to, “Go and do likewise!”

FJ