Sin

Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 105 (104):3-4 Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

Collect Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Philippians 1:18-26; Psalm 41; Luke 14:1, 7-11

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honour at the table, he told them this parable: When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honoured in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:1, 7-11)

Sin One thing which ought strike any student of religion is how any person, however familiar with the things of God he may be, is vulnerable to the inroads of serious sin. Perhaps the primordial example is Satan and his minions. If man wishes to think of sin and a sinful state, Satan exemplifies that state. He is the arch-sinner, the one who exudes sin and who is implacably opposed to God. But now, where did all this begin in him? It began in heaven, after he had come from the creative hand of God, endowed with abundant blessings of nature and grace, a high spirit favoured with the presence of his Creator. Endowed with untrammelled freedom he made his choice — and the horror of it was that he freely rejected his Creator. He wished to be — as he would later tempt our first parents — in God’s place. It was an attempt at usurpation, an absurd and shocking rebellion with other spirits following suit and in train, in which he crossed the Rubicon with his troops, against the Lord God. How could he have done this? It is the mystery of sin, but the point being drawn here is that he was in heaven, which is to say in the abode of God. He was indeed very familiar with the things of his adorable, infinitely loving and holy Maker. With that, the terrible divine sentence followed. He and his were forever cast out, only to continue in undying hostility. The entire Fact scarcely bears contemplating. But then, our first parents were endowed with high gifts of nature and grace, and were familiar with God and his plan. Beauty surrounded them, and love was their prospect, but they too cast their die, and they chose to be gods in their own right, like God and independent of him and his will. Instantly they lost their life with God and were doomed to death, bereft of their gifts of grace and with nature impaired. Now, all this happened in the Garden of Eden, an idyllic state of familiarity with the things of God. It paralleled the state and moment in which Satan and the demons had rebelled.

Let us take another case, likewise of high mystery. The grandest and holiest of men was our divine Brother and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. What an incalculable privilege to be his personal friend and companion, to live with him day by day and to share in his interests and his work! Such was the calling of the Twelve, selected out of the concourse of his disciples who themselves had the privilege of being disciples of so unique a Master. The Twelve were his Companions, and they knew the privilege of it. They had left all to follow him. Simon Peter once asked our Lord, what will be coming to us, for we have left all to follow you — notice that he did not say, I have left all to follow you. He said, “we” have left all. He was speaking for the Twelve, implying that they all had left everything to follow him, and our Lord acknowledges it for he goes on to tell them what will be their recompense for doing this. Now, Judas was in their company when this was said — we may presume that Judas too had started well. He was received into the special friendship of Jesus Christ and lived and worked as his Companion. He was an Apostle, one of the Twelve. In its own way, it paralleled the Garden of Eden in which our first parents were placed. It was the Garden of friendship with Jesus Christ, and St Paul writes that in Christ we receive every heavenly blessing. But look what happened! Judas turned away from God made man, from the pearl of greatest price, from the treasure in the field. He sinned gravely, enormously, and tragically failed to repent but went the road of despair. Now, I give these sad examples as an introduction to our Lord’s words to the Pharisees in our Gospel passage today (Luke 14:1, 7-11). They were men of religion, professionals — professing to know and to live according to God’s Law — who were very familiar with the things of God. They had before them the Incarnate God and heard him speak and instruct. Despite this, they were sunk in sin, and as our Lord’s words today show, pride gripped many of them by the jugular. Characteristically, they “picked the places of honour.”

Let us live in the friendship of Jesus Christ, and while assiduously doing so let us understand well that we are vulnerable to temptation and sin. The one favoured by Christ with his friendship can still be unfaithful and in numerous minor ways (at the very least) is indeed unfaithful. He must work at casting off the sin that clings so tenaciously. He must aim at self-purification, detachment, self-denial. The struggle must be maintained to the very end, otherwise he will be caught napping and dragged away by the sin that lurks at the door. So then, now I begin!

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Philippians 1:18-26; Luke 14:1.7-11)

All For the Glory of God At times we come across people who seem to think they have nothing to live for, nothing that is worthwhile in their lives, nothing to look forward to. Others are living for things that are not worthwhile and that cannot last. They are utterly ephemeral. Let us notice, by contrast, what St Paul is living for: "Life for me, of course, is Christ" (Philippians 1:18-26). His one hope and trust was that he would never be defeated in living for Christ, and that "whether by my life or by my death, Christ would be glorified in my body." This is what we should be living for, that whether by our life or by our death, Christ will be glorified and honoured. Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask that "hallowed be your name." It means that we set ourselves the aim of so living and working, of so praying and even thinking, that Jesus will be everywhere known and loved. Even when we are incapable of living and working, if sickness and death are before us, that this too will result in God's glory.

Let us pray for the kind of humility that puts God first in everything. Our Lord in Luke 14:11 tells us that "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted." Let us learn to prefer the lower place especially before God, so that God and his Son Jesus will be exalted. In this way and in God's good time, we too will be exalted in him.

(E.J.Tyler)

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