THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

In the Fourth century, the Roman Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians. During the persecution, any Christians who renounced their faith, made offerings to the Roman gods, and turned over any sacred scriptures they had were spared. Those who refused were usually killed. While many Christians resisted and were martyred, many others did not. They renounced Christianity, allowed their books to be burned, and were spared. With Diocletian’s successor, Constantine, it gets a whole lot easier for Christians. 

Many of those who had denied their faith returned to the Church. But what really upset people is that a number of clergy who had renounced their faith returned to the church and were functioning as priests and bishops. Many Christians in North Africa considered it offensive to the memories of those who had the courage to become martyrs. This issue split the church and a person named Donatus became the chief spokesman for a rival church. Donatus said these clergy were ineligible to perform the sacraments, and that any which they may have performed were invalid. So, for example, if you were baptized by one of these priests, you weren’t really baptized.

The opposing church, which became the mainstream church, responded by saying that lapsed clergy could be restored to full authority after having performed penance. They based this on the concept of forgiveness for all that the holiness of the church is not based on the purity of its leaders or the purity of its members. All are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. The holiness of the Church rests upon the holiness of God who in his graciousness forgives us our sins in Jesus Christ. This became the Churches position.

I think Donatists, today are people who are really worried that the moral failings, and erroneous beliefs of others – or perhaps better, what they perceive as the moral failings, and erroneous beliefs of others — will somehow corrupt or infect them. People are concerned with their ideological purity, political purity, moral purity, you-name-it purity these days. It is this human tendency to put ourselves in the place of God, to be the judges of good and evil, of who’s in and who’s out.

So, our Gospel lesson tells us, “ Jesus spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else” Today, we could substitute any modern day Donatist for the Pharisee and whomever he or she regards with contempt for the tax collector. The parable of the enlightened progressive and the backwards redneck. The parable of the orthodox theologian and the heretic.

The surprise ending of the story is that the Pharisee goes home empty. He came asking nothing of God and he goes home getting nothing from God. The tax collector shows up empty handed asking for God’s mercy, and goes home justified, that is, in right relationship with God. 

Donatists always go home empty. They are so sure of their holiness and purity that they don’t think they need anything from God. Perhaps the only thing they might ask is if God could keep the tax collectors, the impure, at a safe distance so they don’t get infected.

Tax collectors and sinners paradoxically go home full. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When we come into God’s presence not trying to puff ourselves up by putting everyone else down, but with an honest and humble acknowledgment of our emptiness, God fills us with his love and forgiveness.

The Church’s answer then and always is the good news of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. None of us, is worthy or deserving of God’s grace and mercy. Our Catholicism. our conservativism, our environmentalism, our good works, our acts of piety, will not get us into heaven. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Good News is that while we were yet sinners, God sent his Son Jesus Christ who through his life, death, and resurrection has made us acceptable in God’s sight and through his holiness has made us holy and acceptable in him. My goodness, your goodness,  has nothing to do with it. It is all about God’s choice, God’s grace freely bestowed on us. And this is good news. We have no holiness apart from the grace, love, and mercy of God.