Do Catholics Try to Earn Their Way to Heaven?

Is it true that Catholics don’t appreciate the role of faith in a Christian’s life, and rely too much, if not solely, upon the role of works?

In my study of Proverbs, I was astonished to discover how similar the words in Proverbs 9:1-5 are to those of Luke 14:15-24. Both of these passages seem to be a reference to the heavenly banquet. What a wonderful revelation this was to me! Once again, we see a reference in the Old Testament to Christ and we see how Christ truly is the center of the Bible and is the thread that unites the Old Testament to the New Testament. These two passages foretell of the Heavenly feast celebrated today at the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Once again, I am reminded, that sadly, not all of our brothers and sisters in Christ read the Bible with the same understanding that the Catholic Church possesses. Some of our Protestant brothers and sisters in Christ do not believe the Kingdom is truly at hand, and when they see Catholics attend the Holy Mass they believe it is nothing more than a man made ritual and rule that Catholics must obey so that they may earn their way into Heaven.

I have been accused on more than one occasion, and as far back as when I was a child, of trying to earn my way into Heaven by attending the Holy Mass. Because Catholics must attend the Holy Mass in order to be in God’s good graces and pure enough to receive Communion, we are told that we are trying to earn our salvation, and salvation, being a pure gift from Christ, cannot be earned. Christ, we are told, already paid the price, and we must simply accept the benefits. I was told that because I could not just accept this gift without dutifully going to Mass, I was not truly saved. I was not saved, I was told, because I lacked the faith necessary for salvation.

It was this very accusation that put me on a true journey of conversion. I wanted to defend the Catholic church against what seemed to me to be some very unwarranted and biased anti-Catholic sentiment.

Do Catholics Try to Earn Their Way to Heaven?

Many Catholics are familiar with the false doctrines of ‘faith alone’, and ‘once saved always saved’. I became familiar with these two doctrines when I was in high-school and they never sat well with me. I was accused of downplaying the role of ‘faith’ in a Christian’s life simply for being Catholic. According to my Protestant friends, as long as I tried to earn my way to salvation through works, I was short on faith.

Strangely enough, these same accusations from some well intentioned family members came out again to haunt me very recently. The Protestants making these accusations believe that through faith they, unlike the Catholic, have secured a guaranteed ticket to Heaven. I am happy to say that today, I can tell all of my Protestant friends and family exactly what faith brings to the life of a Catholic. Faith brings Catholics a seat at the table of the Lord at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

A good response to the Protestant who accuses the Catholic of being short on faith and silly for obeying all of those Catholic rules like attending the Mass, might be to first point out Proverbs 9:1-5, and then Luke 14:15-24.

Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids to call from the highest places in the town, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who is without sense she says, “Come, eat of my bfread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave simpleness, and live, and walk in the way of insight. Proverbs 9:1-5.

When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for all is now ready.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.” And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come’. So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the house holder in anger said to his servant. ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” Luke 14:15-24.

After the Catholic shares these two verses with Protestant friends, the following can be pointed out regarding faith and the Catholic:

Catholics are those lucky people who come to the feast. They walk in the way of insight, (Proverbs 9:4-5), and they are the Blessed who eat bread in the Kingdom of God (Luke 14:15).

The Holy Mass, the greatest prayer on earth, is our participation in the one and only eternal sacrifice of Christ, and with the gift of Christ’s Church, Catholics receive Him completely, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We stand before the Heavenly feast at every Mass as full fledged members of the Kingdom of God. We are at the Heavenly banquet. We are quite literally in Heaven on earth. This is a mystery, which through faith, has the power like all God’s mysteries, to bring us into God’s Heavenly Kingdom. Christ’s presence is alive in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

When the Jewish people of the Old Testament celebrated the Passover, they were not just remembering a great story. They were reliving the past, or making the past the present. They were renewing their covenant relationship with God. This is the same thing we do today when we receive Christ, the true Passover Lamb, in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass. We stand at the foot of the Cross, and Christ becomes our present offering to God. For the Old Testament Jews, the Passover from slavery into the promised land, represented actual history made present in the Passover celebration. It was no mere symbol. And such is true for us. Christ’s real presence exists in the Sacrificial offering of the Holy Mass.

This is a mystery far too overwhelming for human beings to truly understand, and indeed, we see many Christians denying this reality. We see in John 6, that it was that way in the days of Jesus when many of his disciples left and decided no longer to follow him:

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. John 6:52-56

Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying, who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?” John 6:60-61

After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went with him. John 6:66

What our human eyes have trouble grasping, faith allows our hearts to accept.

Do Catholics Try to Earn Their Way to Heaven?

Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69