PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to
listen
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle B
September 30, 2012 4 and 5:30pm
Saint Margaret
Parish, Bel Air
No Salvation
Have
you ever heard the expression “Outside
the church there is no salvation”?
When I
was a child, growing up in the 1950’s, I remember hearing that. In fact, I think I was taught that in my
religion or catechism classes.
This
expression – “Outside the Church there is
no salvation” – goes way back in the history of the Church. Over the centuries, its original meaning
became a bit distorted.
The
result was that this saying was repeated right into the twentieth century, the
1900’s, in a way that was kind of exclusivist and elitist. That is how I learned it as a child.
It came
across as meaning that all non-Catholics, including other Christians, and
certainly non-Christians, are not able to be saved. Well, fortunately, along came the Second
Vatican Council in the 1960’s.
Salvation for All
Pope
John XXIII convened all the bishops of the world to this major meeting.
The
purpose was to do in-depth reflection on the Church and its direction. This October marks the fiftieth anniversary
of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Well,
one of the things that Vatican II did was to clarify the teaching about no
salvation outside the Church. Vatican II
first recognized that there is a fundamental unity among all Christians based on
our common baptism.
Through
baptism, the Holy Spirit is present and active in all of us. The significant conclusion: all Christians can
be saved.
And then
the Council went even farther. It
recognized that 2/3rds of the world’s population are not Christian.
In some
way, God must also draw to himself everyone to whom he has given life and
breath. Everyone must in some way be
included in the mystery of God’s saving love!
Well,
at least for me, what a refreshing way to view God and what a positive clarification
of our faith! And how consistent this is
with the revelation of God that Jesus gives us!
Today’s Scripture
In today’s
gospel, one of the apostles is upset because someone who is not in their group
is doing good things in Jesus’ name.
Jesus
tells them not to stop that person. He
makes the significant statement: “Whoever
is not against us is for us.”
So
Jesus sees God present and acting in others who are doing good even if they are
not one of his followers. He wants the
apostles – and us – to resist the insider-outsider mentality.
He just
wants us to look for good and affirm that as a sign of God’s presence. So yes, salvation also happens outside the
Church!
A Clarification
Now, I think
we have to add that we Catholics still believe that Jesus is the fullness of
God’s revelation.
We
believe that Christianity is the fullest and clearest way to God. And we also believe that our Church, that
Catholicism has authentically passed on the core message of Jesus down through
all the centuries.
No
question, in our humanity, we have made mistakes and done some things we are
not proud of. But, guided by the Holy
Spirit, we believe that we have transmitted the authentic, core message of
Jesus.
So, we
still want to invite everyone to our Catholic community. It’s something like having a full-course,
gourmet meal.
We want
everyone to be at this table and to have the full meal – of doctrine and moral
teaching, of sacraments and spirituality and all the rest. We want to invite everyone to this.
Conclusion
I want to conclude
with what today’s readings lift up for us.
What a positive
approach to God and faith and salvation we now see! What an open approach to all of humanity!
We are not to give
in to the temptation of seeing faith and religion as a who's in, who’s out, as
an include, exclude exercise. Instead,
we positively cherish Catholicism and want to share it.
At the same time, we
respect all persons and see everyone as on a journey back to God and to
salvation. This is the positive approach
that motivates me and, I believe, should guide us in this 21st
century of Christianity.
