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March 29, 2005
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The Slippery Slope: by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M.
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Q U I C K S C A N
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A great example of how a person can slip into presumption is demonstrated, I believe, in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee has a lot of trust all right, but it is all placed upon his own virtue (rather than upon the power of God). He has slipped into presumption big time. Listen to him: “Oh God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income” (Luke 18: 11-12). A paragon of virtue in his own eyes, he is presuming that his personal acts of fasting and contributions to a holy cause are automatically making him holy in God’s sight—without any help from God. He is not trusting in God’s power to elevate him to sainthood, but in his own. He presumes he is much closer to God than that poor tax collector he looks upon with scorn in the back of the temple. The Pharisee’s overblown self-trust is really presumption, the placing of too much trust in himself rather than in God. It’s a kind of blindness. Jesus presents the tax collector, on the other hand, as much more pleasing to God, because he has a better understanding of who he is before God—a fallible human being, a self-acknowledged vessel of clay. He does not presume he is more than he is, or that he can save himself by his own power. He knows that the true source of his healing and his salvation is God, and he puts his trust in this source. In touch with his own smallness in contrast to God’s greatness, he strikes his breast and says, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Jesus tells us that this man of humble trust went home “justified,” that is, in right relationship with God, while the Pharisee did not. A second form of presumption would be that misguided kind of trust whereby you or I would presume totally on God’s power and mercy and fail to lift a finger on our part. The saying that God helps those who help themselves applies in such cases. If I have diabetes and refuse to use the medical means available (insulin, for example) to safeguard my health—and insist on relying entirely on God’s mercy to heal me—I have slipped into this second kind of presumption. Trusting in God’s mercy with no corresponding responsibility on my part is like faith without works, which St. James describes as “dead.” “What good is it,” says James, “if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17). Even our Easter hope needs an active response This Easter season is a time of hope. By the power of God, Jesus burst forth from the tomb, bringing enormous hope to the world. The risen Jesus spent 40 joyful days conversing and eating with his disciples and spreading hope among them. And even though Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, he did not leave us orphans. Not at all! He remains with us! At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, there is no explicit Ascension scene. Instead, in last the line of Matthew’s text, Jesus is intent on reminding us: “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (28:20). Yet, even with those wonderful words affirming the presence of the risen Christ among us, we can slip into the presumption that all we have to do is coast along—as if we are blissful surfers riding on glorious waves of hope. Even here, however, we are called to respond actively, and as totally as we can, to that total gift of Self that God has given to us through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection. Even though Matthew’s Gospel gave no explicit description of Jesus’ Ascension, it did give us an explicit commission: “Go, make disciples of all nations baptizing…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (28:19-20). Jesus’ risen presence among us provides much hope. To have hope, however—without any active engagement on our part—is to place ourselves once again on the slippery slope. Let us pray: Loving God, give us joy and response-ability, that is, the ability to respond with joy to our Savior’s great acts of love—and with loving actions of our own!
Dear Friar Jim: I wanted to thank you and let you know that your articles on the Sacrament of Reconcilaton made me cry and helped me understand and become more comfortable with going to Confession. I always wondered if priests remembered all the sins I told them when they see me in Mass. I always felt they they might remember all the bad stuff I told them in the secrecy of the confessional. I have been to our penance service, and I feel renewed, so to speak. Valerie Dear Valerie: Thanks for your kind words. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is always a moment of joy for me since I’m privileged to extend God’s mercy just as I receive it when I go to Confession. That’s why priests are best known to be “wounded healers.” We know what sin is like from our own experience, not from another person telling us. God bless you. Friar Jim Dear Friar Jim: I would like to ask a question concerning the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the number of times one should go to Confession. For example, you have suggested that one should go to Confession during Lent and around his/her birthday. I would like to know if one could, in a sense, “kill 2 birds with one stone.” My mother’s birthday is during Lent (in March). Could her Confession for her birthday (for example) also count for Lent? Jeannine Dear Jeannine: Yes, indeed. I was only making a suggestion as to good occasions when the sacrament could be received. The four times was no rule, just a suggestion. Friar Jim Dear Friar Jim: I was reading your article on when and how often we should receive the Sacrament of Penance and wondered why not use it more often than four times a year? If sacraments were instituted to give grace, why not get all the grace we can? I understand that there is such thing as overkill but why not receive the sacrament at least once a month? Sammy Dear Sammy: I agree with you, but for many people four times a year is sufficient. And for some four times is a lot. More is better, but the Church says that Confession is required ONLY for mortal sin. So, even the Church, while encouraging often, does not set a minimum number except for mortal sin. Friar Jim Send your feedback to friarjack@americancatholic.org.  |
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A Message From Friar Jack
Welcome! I hope you’ll enjoy all of the news about what’s happening at AmericanCatholic.org, as well as my “musings.” By the way, I am a real Franciscan friar, as is my coworker, Friar Jim. You can find out more about us here.
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