Homily

Every time we come to Liturgy, we recite this phrase of St. Paul when we prepare for Holy Communion, confessing our belief in Christ, and we say that He came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the first. There have been so many times in our lives when we have wished that we would be the one chosen, the one picked, the winner, the first above all others, at the top of the list, most outstanding, at the head of the line and on top of the heap. Many times we may have wished that to be so, but it is true at every Eucharist when I say that among all the sinners Jesus came to save, I am the first. And so are you.

Now obviously it does not mean that I am the worst sinner in the world. That title probably belongs to someone else, at least I hope so. So it's not a confession that I am the worst of all sinners. It is a confession that I am, indeed, a sinner, that I do need to be saved from my sins and not only my sins but from the bad and harmful effects I brought down on myself because of my sins. Not to mention the effects my sins have had on other people, either directly or indirectly. St. Paul went through countless and extreme hardships and suffering, both physical and emotional, in his work of spreading the gospel and yet we see him writing to his pupil Timothy that he is the first of all sinners. How can that be?

Of all the people I am responsible for, I am responsible first of all for myself. Of all the sinners in the world, the only one I can answer for is myself. Of all the evil that is done in the world, the evil I am responsible for is the evil that I have done. So in this case, in these ways I am the first of sinners, and although my Christian life and witness could not even begin to come close to that of St. Paul's, I stand with him to say I am the first of sinners.

We live in a time where sin is not a word that describes moral failings. We live in a time where it has become a dirty word. In fact it is a sin to use the word "sin." People will agree there is great evil in the world; it's just that they don't feel responsible for any of it. In fact it's really hard for them to pin down what is evil or bad behavior because if I am the one doing it, and I am a good person, how bad can it really be? And who is to say what is right and what is wrong? Everybody has their own ideas about what is right and wrong. But there is one thing that most people believe is right, and that is that they rarely do anything wrong. Right? Most people tend to believe that, and today especially that message is preached to the young. I remember a poll that was taken a few years ago when young adults were asked how often they think they do something that is morally wrong. One college student admitted that he had sinned about a year ago, but couldn't think of anything since then.

What are the thoughts of many TV and film scriptwriters when it comes to sin? Here is their idea of confession and repentance (and I know you've heard this line): "I have done things I'm not proud of."

Jesus didn't come to help us avoid moments we are not proud of. He came to bring us freedom from sin, freedom from offensive and defensive wrongdoing, freedom from the burden of sins committed, freedom to fill those gaps with grace, freedom from our selfishness and deadly desires that threaten our very happiness, freedom from trying to save ourselves. Saving ourselves is the worst of all possible vocations because it is doomed to failure every single time. Only one can save. He came not to save the self-righteous, but to save sinners. I dabble in saving myself until I remember, once again, again and again, how pointless it is to keep on trying. Lord, you came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the first. Help me never to deny it and to always seek out your saving power, and give us all the grace to call on you every blessed day.