What would
you do if you had a chance to talk with God face to face for as long
as you would like? Yes, we can talk to God whenever we want to in
prayer, but as we all know prayer can be a bit distracting at times
with everything else going on around us. It can sometimes be a bit
frustrating when we would like a response from God on something, or
an answer to a question, but we simply hear nothing. I'm talking
about a chance to talk to God free of distractions and you can hear
Him speak back to us. Perhaps this is the very thing that will
happen when we die: we will simply have a one-on-one meeting with the
Almighty. What would you do; what would you say; how would you feel?
I've met some people who I think could honestly say that there would
be a lot of joy and excitement and they would want to talk to God
about any number of things. I think the majority of people would
have a mix of nervousness about what to say to Him, with excitement
about being with Him, but also some fear of what He might say back to
them. I think they would carefully pick and choose what to say to
Him, still wanting to say so much, but unsure of what is proper and
afraid of what might happen. The last group would be those who would
be simply too afraid to saying anything at all. I would hope that
this group would be small, but I have a feeling that the number of
people in this category is much higher than I would care to admit.
These are not the people who are God fearing (those who have a
healthy respect for God) but rather those who are so afraid of Him
that they don't dare to come close enough to talk with Him or find
out what He might want to say to them. They have convinced
themselves that God is more full of wrath and condemnation than of
love and mercy. They keep Him at arms length, certain that if they
get too close to Him it will only mean hell-fire and brimstone.
I don't know
exactly why it is that people develop such a negative view of God's
relationship with humanity, but I suspect that part of it is the
result of an over emphasis of God's punishment of evildoers. Let's
take today's Gospel as an example. The parable of the weeds in the
field is about both evildoers and the faithful, but it can be easy to
focus solely on those lines about collecting the weeds for burning
and casting evildoers into the fiery furnace. Sadly, there have
probably been more than a few preachers who have chosen to focus
primarily on the punishment mentioned in this passage and those like
it with the good intention of trying to steer people away from a life
of sin, resulting in an unhealthy fear of God. However, I hope that
we can all come to see that the purpose of the Gospel is not all
about the punishment of sinners. Yes, there is a stern reminder here
that God does punish sinners, but when we take a step back and look
at this reading with the other readings today and the rest of
Scripture, we can see the overall emphasis is on mercy instead of
punishment. Consider the reaction of the householder in the parable
when he learns about the weeds. If God only cared about punishment
and condemnation, the parable would have been about the householder
who had all the weeds and the wheat uprooted and burned and then
started all over again by replanting with good seed. Instead, the
owner is patient and waits until harvest time to separate the good
from the bad. Just so, God waits on his punishment as well until He
can see who chooses faith and who chooses the life of sin.
The other
day I was have dinner with a few other priests in downtown Duluth.
One of the priests is a classmate of mine who has been out in
Washington D.C. studying canon law. Canon law refers to all the laws
that govern how the Church operates. It determines everything from
how and when we celebrate the Sacraments to the set up of a parish
finance council and making business decisions. One of the other
priests asked him how his studies have been going. He replied that
he has been amazed at how much mercy is at the heart of canon law.
He explained that almost every law of the Church includes an
exception to the rule. The laws explain what should normally be done
in a situation, but then add, “except where such-and-such is the
case” and give other instructions. So often the Church gets a bad
rap for having so many rules that say, “Don't do this” or “Don't
do that”. The laws actually reflect the mercy of the Supreme
Lawgiver and those who study them are reminded that they are to be
applied loosely, allowing for many exceptions and always with the
salvation of souls in mind. Mercy is the key word here.
The first
reading today from the Book of Wisdom should serve as a great
reminder to us that God is about mercy and the care of all rather
than unjustly condemning people. “There is no god besides
you who have the care of all”, we are told. Only God Himself is
like this. The reading continues, “For your might is the source of
justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.”
It is God's might and mastery that also makes Him so lenient and
merciful. The one speaking in this reading is telling God that He
has been a just and merciful leader. The last line of this reading
is also very important for what we are looking at today. “You gave
your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance
for their sins.” What this tells us is that an important part of
God's justice and mercy is about giving those who have sinned a
second chance. That is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
a chance to repent of our sins and start over again with a clean
slate.
A valid question at this point might be, “But
what if we just keep falling back into the same sin?” That is
where the second reading comes in handy. St. Paul is talking more
about how the Holy Spirit will help us find the words for prayer, but
he is also talking about how the Holy Spirit helps us in following
God's will. The Spirit comes to our aid and intercedes for us. We
might not even understand how it is happening or understand that it
is even happening, but it helps us.
So let us not fear God's wrath or His judgment.
Let us instead trust in His love and mercy to help us enter into His
eternal Kingdom.
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