Wretches Wrule

Acts 22:3-5

         Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison. Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.

         One of the most popular Christian songs is "Amazing Grace."  It is especially haunting when heard on bagpipes, and at the funeral of a loved one.  But lately people have tinkered with the opening lines.  Do you recall the original version?  It read: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."  Recently, however, in an effort to soften the harsh tones of suggesting someone is a "wretch," a modern version reads: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a soul like me."  It's much more comforting to be considered a soul in need of saving rather than a sinner.  Do you want to be called a wretch??  But notice what happens to God's grace when we diminish our sinfulness: grace no longer looks so "amazing."  Compare the grace you need to save a "soul" versus the grace you need to save a "wretch."  Catch the difference?  In other words, what makes grace so “amazing” is precisely that it saves wretches, not just souls.   The worse the sinner, the more amazing the grace.

          This is why in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles St. Paul doesn't pull any punches about his former life as a persecutor of the nascent Church.  Listen to his self-incrimination: "I persecuted this Way [meaning Christians] to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison."  Can you say "wretched sinner"?  But Paul is not just "beating himself up" in a flight of neurotic fancy.  He ultimately wants to highlight how great God's grace has been in him, and he does this by contrasting that grace to his own wretched sinfulness.  In one of my favorite passages of all Scripture, St. Paul proclaims: "where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more" (Romans 5:20).  And as “exhibit A,” Paul says, “look at me!”  St. Paul is proof positive that the worse the sinner, the more amazing the grace.

          Pope Francis has called all Christians to celebrate a “Year of Mercy” from December 2015 through December 2016.  Now, let me ask you: who needs mercy?  Well, only sinners need mercy.  But who are the sinners?  Well, I know one sinner: Pope Francis.  In one of the first interviews he gave after being elected pope, the reporter asked him, “So, who is Pope Francis?”  Without hesitation, he replied, “I am a sinner.”  Those words stir something deep inside me every time I think of them.  Why?  Because I know I am a sinner, too.  In other words, this Year of Mercy is not just for terrorists and mass murders and drug lords and gang leaders; it is also for me, and for you, and for Pope Francis.  My friends, this year, stop white-washing your sins like those redactors of the song “Amazing Grace” white-washed the first lines: you are not just a soul, but a sinner.  In those rare moments of grace when we are truly and brutally honest with ourselves, we see we are not the righteous but the wretched.  And that’s not such a bad thing.  Why?  Well, because the more wretched the sinner, the more amazing the grace.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!