To Boast or Not to Boast

The Gospel makes it clear that exalting yourself is not the way into the Kingdom. So, it might sound strange to hear Paul saying he competed well and finished the race and now expects the winner’s crown. So why is he any different from the Pharisee in the Gospel?

The Pharisee probably was being honest about himself. Sure, he fasts and tithes, is not greedy or adulterous, but he misses the point. He thinks that justification, being right with God, comes from a person’s accomplishments. He feels no need to ask for God’s mercy. Yet if he relied on that mercy, he wouldn’t boast about his good deeds. Instead, he would ask for God’s mercy and then thank God by doing good or being generous. In other words, he put the cart before the horse. He thinks that God is waiting to be bribed with good deeds (or at least a lack of bad ones) so that he can be justified. “After all,” thinks the Pharisee, “what else are good deeds for if not to make me look good?”

St. Paul, on the other hand, looks at his life as a Pharisee and is amazed that God forgave his “good works” of keeping the law and persecuting Christians. He is so grateful for God’s mercy that he can’t wait to tell everyone about Jesus and how he loves us. His boasting is not about what he has done for God; it’s more about what God has done through him. He credits God, who gave him the strength to preach the Good News.

Maybe you have examples of what God has done in your life: the people God sent to love you, the talents or abilities God gave you, the times God forgave your sins. Are you so grateful for what God has done that you want to do more for God? Or do you go to church, put your offering in the collection, and serve in a parish ministry so that God will be grateful to you? It sounds obvious when put it that way, but it is tempting to think that God loves us more when we do good things. Remember that God loved St. Paul while he was still persecuting Christians, loved him enough not only to forgive him but to make him into a great apostle. Why waste your time trying to earn that love, when you could be doing whatever you can to thank God for it?                                    -Tom Schmidt, Diocesan Publications

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 Saints Simon and Jude – October 28

Saint Jude, apostle, a Hollywood success story? Indeed! Beyond Simon’s being a “Zealot” for Israel’s liberation and Jude’s question about Jesus revealing himself (John 14:22), no historic facts are known about either saint. But Saint Jude’s well-known patronage of “lost causes” and “hopeless cases” is largely due to a desperate vow made just before World War II by a struggling entertainer, the son of Arab American immigrants, Danny Thomas. Unemployed, his wife about to give birth, Danny, attending Mass, impulsively donated his last $7.00 to the collection, promising: “Saint Jude, if you help me find my way in life, I will build a shrine in your honor!” Older Americans remember well Danny’s long, successful movie and television career. Grateful parents worldwide know the miracles that have taken place for fifty years at his Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where needy children are cared for regardless of race, religion, or financial resources, and monumental advances continue in healing and preventing pediatric cancers and catastrophic childhood diseases. A living, life-giving partnership is this “Communion of Saints”: Simon, Jude, Danny Thomas—us!              —Peter Scagnelli, Diocesan Publications