RBWords

     These words of Jesus, spoken during his "farewell discourse" at the Last Supper, have been a source of controversy because they have been occasionally interpreted to mean that an explicit and conscious faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is required for eternal salvation.  Some Christian interpreters have been content to let vast portions of the human race "go to hell."  They accept this conclusion because they see no way of understanding Jesus and his mission other than by literal interpretation of this statement in the Gospel of John.  Some fundamentalist Catholics go even further and require explicit membership in the Roman Catholic Church for salvation.  Neither the first nor the second beliefs are part of Catholic faith.

     The Second Vatican Council clearly teaches that there are "rays of truth" in non-Christian faith and that God's plan of salvation, expressed in Jesus Christ, reaches beyond the bounds of the visible Church.  This would be particularly  clear in those who share Abraham as a common "ancestor in faith": Christians, Jews and Moslems.  Furthermore, there are uncounted millions who have never heard the preaching of the Christian gospel and do not explicitly "know the way."  They are not abandoned.  God's law is "written in their hearts" and the mystery of God's providential love works in its own way with them.  

     Those of us who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ are commissioned by our baptism to "preach the Good News " to the world.  Sad history has shown that any form of religious coercion in matters of faith is counter to everything that Jesus came to teach us.  We have to leave the matter of the gift of faith to God.  We also have to be conscious of our own gift of a faith community and embrace that with joy and integrity, and share it with others in a loving way.  None of us has the right to say to anyone else as a matter of faith, "Go to hell!"  AMEN