Jesus came to save us all, right? And other than as a result of Jesus' death on the cross, we are all stuck in our human failings and cannot be right with God, isn't that also true? Yes, and yes-- Jesus is the way to eternal life for all of us, and had He not died on the cross no one could be saved. So, if that's right, what is Jesus talking about in today's Gospel (Lk 5: 27- 32) when He says: "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners." Aren't we all sinners in need of repentance. To answer that question I think we need to look at the context of Jesus' remarks. He is being challenged on the fact that He hangs out with "tax collectors and sinners." The Pharisees and their scribes want to know why someone who is preaching holiness would associate with such people. Shouldn't someone trying to live a holy, righteous life associate with other people trying to do the same, and not hang out with sinners, with all the temptation that involves? Jesus implicitly acknowledges that there are righteous people in the world (or else His distinction between the "righteous" and "sinners" makes no sense) who are less in need of His teaching than others. So, He seems to say, that's why He is with the sinners." They are the "sickest" people most in need of His healing presence. The point is not that the righteous earn their salvation and don't need repentance. From the standpoint of salvation we all need what Jesus teaches. No one "earns" their salvation and we all need to repent. The point is that Jesus is associating with "sinners" to help them understand that living as God intended-- which relates to our salvation but does not earn it-- is also the best way to live this life. The righteous seem already to know that, but it is the sinners who need to change from an earthly perspective. There are folks who seem to suggest that there is a great disjunction in Christianity-- that we must suffer on earth in order to be happy in the next life. Don't believe them. Yes, there are times when it is hard to live as Jesus taught, but even those times lead to a life that is happy here on earth in the deepest sense, a life filled with joy and peace and serenety. The great saints were, on the whole, people of deep contentment. Perhaps Jesus is trying especially to teach that message to the "sinners" because they seem to want to find joy in what we would call "sex, drugs and roch and roll." He wants them (ok, us) to know the joy of turning our lives around, the joy of repentance, the joy of the Gospel, the true joy of being right with creation. It is easy, especially during Lent, to think of our faith as a source or difficulty, even sadness. Let's try not to go there. The Gospel is, after all, the "Good News." And good news should be a source of great joy. That's true whether we are "righteous" or "sinners."