Have You Been Saved?

This past weekend, in the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church looked at the Gospel passage from Saint Luke chapter 13:22-30. 


The passage is wonderful for reflection...


"Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” 
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. 
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from. 
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. 
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”

The question posed to Jesus, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" may seem familiar. Sometimes, Catholic Christians and others are confronted by individuals with the question: "Have you been saved?" From a Catholic Christian perspective, I would answer with a positive yes - absolutely yes. However, some explanation is necessary to understand further the YES from a Catholic. So, without further adieu, I will include part of my homily from this past weekend with the hopes to give better insight into the fact that, yes, a Catholic Christian has indeed been "saved." Here is part of the homily:

I grew up in Carmel, Indiana pretty sheltered and was raised by my mother in the Catholic Faith. For so many years, I did not know anything but Catholicism. It was not until I was a junior in high school that I began to really practice the faith where I can say I wanted to work on my prayer life each day and I wanted to attend Mass each week. Others did not challenge me in my Catholic Faith until I began my undergraduate studies at Anderson University; a Church of God sponsored university in Anderson, Indiana. The question, “Have you been saved?”, which many of you have heard in your lives as well, was asked at least a few times during my first semester in 1994. I did not hide from the other students that I was a Catholic. But, soon I was asked that question: “Have you been saved?” I had never been asked that before, so my response was probably not satisfactory.

Now, many years later in my life, I can share the response if someone asks me if I am saved. As Catholic Christians, our response would include three levels or stages, having to do with the past, the present and the future. We can respond that we have been saved – past tense. Jesus Christ, our Savior, by whose act of salvation over 2000 years ago we were objectively saved--He died, He rose from the dead, He saved us from sin. We hear from Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation” (5:17). 

We can also share that we are being saved – present tense. We are because in our present experience, God's power is delivering us constantly from the bondage of sin. We experience this in the Sacraments of the Church, especially in the Eucharist and in Reconciliation. We hear again from Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians “Through it (the gospel) you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (15:2). 

Finally, we can share that we will be saved – future tense, because we have hope and confidence that God will give us the grace of perseverance; that we will respond to it; and accept His gift of salvation until our time here on earth is finished. Remember that the future deliverance of believers will be at the Second Coming of Christ. In Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he says, “How much more then, since we are now justified by His blood, will we be saved through Him from the wrath” (5:9). I also have read the verse from Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians 2:12 "So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." 

It is important for us to be able to respond to questions that other people have for us about what we believe and adhere to as Catholic Christians. In this case, if you are asked: “Are you saved?”, you can respond in the affirmative – absolutely YES. We have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved.

God bless you this week and continue to thank God for the wonderful gift of salvation... Fr. Joshua