Saturday after Epiphany

Lectionary: 217

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life.

This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

Last summer I waded through a dense book about Blaise Pascal and the Jansenist heresy. Jansenism was an unfortunate Catholic response to Calvinism, resembling Protestant Arminianism. It's probably impossible to define these Christian doctrines because no two Arminians will agree on their belief. Perhaps the simplest summary, "God owes us nothing!"

On that foundation, it's hard to build an optimistic outlook or a hopeful religion. Catholics who were raised with these teachings often suffered lifelong anxiety about their worthiness. No matter how hard they tried to please an implacable god, they knew they were damned and doomed. They were convinced that the slightest taint of evil spoils the entire milk bottle of grace just as one rotten apple spoils the bushel. Regardless of their abstemious lifestyle, if they indulged a vague thought of sexual pleasure, or failed to purify their mind of such thoughts with ferocious Hail Marys, they were sure they had sinned mortally; and if they died before getting to confession they would spend All Eternity In Hell!

But -- and here's the kicker -- they were never actually reassured by going to confession. Try as he might, there was nothing the priest could say or do to relieve their distress. The Jansenist put no faith in the Sacrament of Penance although he might approach the sacrament every Saturday. If it was so easy to be forgiven of grave sin, the rite could not be trusted.

The Calvinist/Jansenist movement, which included Puritans, arose among the poorer classes as a flourishing middle class emerged. The latter had leisure time for culture and the arts. They enjoyed some economic and political power with social connections. They could afford to dress in the latest styles, play the cool games of tennis and croquet, loiter over strong, unsweetened chocolate, and engage in sexual adventurism.

Peasants, on the other hand, had little freedom and less leisure. They could expect severe punishment for minor infractions. A child pickpocket could be hanged. Idlers could be arrested and transported to Australia or South Africa. If civil rulers were so harsh, why should the poor expect mercy from the Supreme Ruler who had authorized the tyrants?

Professor Kolakoski finished his history of Pascal and the Jansenists with, 

"All his protestations about the happiness of those who have found God notwithstanding, it was a religion for unhappy people and it was designed to make them more unhappy."

Long before Calvin, Bishop Jansen and Arminius, Saint John the Evangelist assured his people, not all sin is deadly. True, there is deadly sin and we should avoid the company of such people. But we can and should work with one another in the spiritual life. We apologize to one another and we accept apologies from one another. If we forgive one another we can rest assured of God's forgiveness. if we welcome one another we can be sure of God's welcome. It should not be difficult to live among us though the newer members may have to clean up their language and recalibrate certain attitudes. Christianity takes practice but it's not hard to learn. Our gracious God teaches us to live graciously.

We may draw great assurance from Saint John's teaching:

We have this confidence in him

that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,

we know that what we have asked him for is ours.

Such is the life of grace.