Monday of the Third week of Easter - The Work of Relationship
Season 1 - Year A • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 8:54
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· 11 viewsThis homily addresses the enduring misunderstanding that Catholics believe in earning salvation through works, clarifying that the Church has always taught salvation as a free gift of grace. Faith is not mere belief or a passive experience—it is a living, active response to God’s invitation into relationship. Just as love in any real relationship requires action, so does faith. We cannot buy God’s love, but we must live it. In the Easter season, we are invited to enter more deeply into this relationship with Christ, whose resurrection calls us not to perform for salvation, but to respond with love, trust, and self-gift.
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“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
This question, posed at the end of today’s Gospel, is deeply interesting—and still very relevant. It touches on a longstanding debate, one that continues to spark confusion, division, and sometimes accusations.
I’ve encountered this especially among people preparing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. They sometimes hear from friends, “Keep your faith in God, but don’t trust in works. That’s what Catholics do—they believe they can earn salvation through good works.”
But that’s not true. In fact, it’s the opposite of what the Church teaches.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly says that none of our actions—whether faith or works—can merit the grace of justification. Quoting the Apostle Paul: “If by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.” In other words, salvation is a free gift. We can’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. And we certainly can’t buy it.
Unfortunately, in the past, there were misunderstandings and abuses that contributed to the confusion. Some of the early Reformers witnessed corrupt practices—like the selling of indulgences—and concluded that the Catholic Church taught salvation could be bought or earned. But this was never official teaching. It was a distortion, born out of a desperate and traumatic time in Europe.
In the wake of the Black Plague, which in some regions wiped out half the population in just a few weeks, people were traumatized. They longed to know their loved ones were safe, and in that context, elaborate practices around purgatory and indulgences developed—some of which were sincere, others exploitative. The idea that one could simply pay moneyto spring a soul from purgatory is false. Grace cannot be purchased.
But here’s the truth: when we make a genuine sacrifice—when we give of ourselves in love—we can offer that act to God for the sake of others. That’s not a transaction. It’s a participation in Christ’s self-giving love. So yes, our prayers and sacrifices can help others. But no, money cannot buy salvation.
That misunderstanding still lingers. And when people hear Jesus say, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the One He sent,” some conclude, “See? Salvation is by faith alone.” Sola fide.
But here’s the issue: if faith is something I do, then it's a work. And if it’s not something I do—if it just happens to me like a brick falling on my head—then it has nothing to do with me at all.
But we all know that’s not how faith works.
Faith is not a passive accident.
Faith is an act—a free response to God’s gift.
It’s not just believing something in our heads; it’s living in a relationship of trust with God.
That’s the key: relationship.
And we all know how relationships work. You can’t buy someone’s love. You can’t pay your way into a friendship. Try walking up to someone and asking, “How much would it cost to be in a relationship with you?” You’ll be laughed at.
But at the same time, you can’t say, “I’m in a great relationship with this person—I just haven’t seen them in years, we never talk, and we do nothing together.” That’s not a real relationship either.
Real relationship can’t be bought. But it must be lived.
The same is true of our relationship with God. We can’t earn it. But we must respond to it. If it’s real, it will have consequences in our lives. That’s what Jesus is saying. That’s what the Church has always taught.
So instead of thinking in terms of faith vs. works, think in terms of relationship.
God freely invites us into relationship through Christ. And that invitation demands a response—not because God is testing us, but because love always demands a response.
That’s why Christ rose from the dead. That’s why He gives us the Eucharist.
Not so that we can check a box, but so that we can enter more deeply into relationship with Him.
He gives us His Body and Blood—literally—so that He might dwell within us, and we within Him.
So, what are we going to do with that?
We must do something—not to earn God’s love, but to live it out.
Because Christ’s way is self-giving. If we’re in relationship with Him, we’re invited into that same way of being.
And here’s the paradox:
When we give, we receive.
When we lose ourselves, we find joy.
We don’t live to get—we live to give.
That is the invitation of Easter.
Let the joy of the Resurrection flow through you.
Take it to others.
Shine it.
Share it.
And in doing so, discover what it really means to live in relationship with Christ.
