Saturday, 13 January 2007

Saint Hilary of Poitiers

Mark 2: 13-17

In the Holy Gospel today, Jesus encounters a challenge from the scribes and Pharisees, who criticize Him for eating with people they consider to be less desirable: tax collectors and sinners. Jesus tells them that He did not come to call the righteous but sinners. Of course, no one except Jesus and Mary are without sin. What He means here is that He has not come to call the self-righteous. Those who believe themselves to be perfect, and so look down on others whom they call “sinners,” are far from the kingdom of God. Jesus came in the flesh to love each and every person, even the sinner. He also came to lead them from sin and into a new way of life. Similarly, He comes to us, to free us from sin and lead us to a new way of life in His kingdom.
An essential prerequisite for living in the kingdom Jesus has come to proclaim is authentic humility. Each of us has to recognize that we stand before God as humble, broken, imperfect human persons. None of us is without faults, and so none of us has the right to mock or dismiss others for their faults. Rather, our place is to follow the example of Jesus and lead them lovingly out of sin and into the kingdom of truth.
Hand-in-hand with humility before God goes humble submission to the will of the Church, which Jesus Christ has established on the foundation of Peter and the Apostles. For more than 2,000 years, the Church has passed down the teachings of Christ. She has continually taught people of every land and tongue how to worship in a beautiful and sacred way. She has cared for billions of souls, even in time of war, suffering, and distress. The Church teaches, prays, and ministers with great wisdom and love. She deserves the respect and obedience of her sons and daughters, and of all humanity.
Today we celebrate the memory of Saint Hilary, who defended Christian faith in the divinity of Christ against the Arian heresy. He was a prolific writer, and dedicated his life to passing on the Christian faith. He stands among numerous teachers and pastors, who have submitted in humility to the will of God and the teaching of the Church, and so have become living images of Christ and beacons pointing the way to the truth. May we, too, dedicate ourselves to all that God and the Church ask of us, and so become bearers of the standard of Christ.