"WHAT OCCASION IS THERE FOR BOASTING?"

Homily for Oct. 17^th, 2013: Romans 3:21-30.

          “All have sinned,” Paul writes in our first reading. This is a central truth of our Christian and Catholic faith: all have fallen short of God wants for us – and what we want in our best moments -- which is what Paul means by sin. To this statement there is just one exception: Mary, the mother of the Lord. She alone of the whole human race never fell short, never sinned. This explains why Pope Francis, when asked near the start of the lengthy interview which was published all over the world a few weeks ago, “Who is Jorge Borgoglio?” responded simply and without hesitation: “I am a sinner.”

          How then can we sinners enjoy fellowship with the all holy God -- in this world, and in the next? Many people would answer: by establishing a credit balance in some heavenly account book, through doing good deeds, making sacrifices, and through prayer. The problem with that view is that we can never do enough good deeds, make enough sacrifices, or say enough prayers to make up for our sins. This is what Paul means when he writes: “What occasion is there for boasting?” The question is rhetorical. It is Paul’s way of telling us: you can never do enough to get right with the all holy God. What Paul calls our “justification,” the technical term for getting right with God, is not the result anything that we do or ever can ever do. Justification is God’s free gift.

          We lay hold of this gift through faith. Or as Paul puts it: “A person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Does this mean that we can forget about good deeds, sacrifice, and prayer? Of course not. Those things are our response to God’s free gift of forgiveness and love – given to us not because we are good enough (for none of us is); but because God is so good that he wants to share his goodness and love with us.

          We pray, then, in this Mass with the man seeking healing from Jesus, who responded to the Lord’s question, “Do you believe?” with the words: “Lord I do believe: help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)