God's Infinite Mercy and Justice

In today's first reading, 1 Kings 21: 17-29, King Ahab is confronted by the prophet Elijah about his killing of Naboth so as to take possession of his vineyard. He committed this abominable crime by following the evil intent of his wife Jezebel.  The Lord instructs  his prophet Elijah to communicate how justice will be served him and his wife Jezebel.  The Lord says to King Ahab through his prophet:  "'In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too'....Against [the queen] Jezebel, too, the Lord declared, 'The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.'"  Hearing his just punishment, King Ahab repents:  "He tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the Lord said to Elijah...'Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in  his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son.'"

Evil does not go unpunished, no matter how cunning the evil person is or his or her accomplices are! Not only that, no matter who commits hideous crimes, there will be a reckoning. In this case it was the King and Queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Neither are you or exempt from doing evil, no matter our rank in life or the level of our education,  no matter our race or heritage, not even our age! Satan is at work and perhaps the more educated, the higher our positions, the more accomplished we are, the greater the risk of falling into Satan's traps. Why? Because it might be easier for us to deceive ourselves, think ourselves above the law! Pride in us may blind us to the evil in which we are engaged and may deafen us to a conscience poisoned, perhaps, by power and control of others "under" us.

Like King Ahab and Queen Jezebel we need prophets, men and women of God,  like Elijah to communicate God's justice. Like King Ahab, we need the humility to accept God's message of justice, no matter by whom it is delivered, repent of our sinfulness, and beg for God's mercy!  We also need the humility of the good thief who recognized that Jesus who was dying beside him, accused of crimes He never committed, was the only one who could save him and so said to Him: Remember me in your kingdom! In that moment, among others during His life time, Jesus reveals the overwhelming mercy of His Father and says to the good thief: "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." Let us turn to the Lord, knowing that our salvation depends upon that kind of humility and God's infinite mercy!

In Hot Pursuit!

In today's first reading, Ex 14: 5-18, the Egyptians regret having allowed the Israelites to leave their country.  "What have we done!  Why, have we released Israel from our service!"  Angry, they go in pursuit of the Israelites with full force:  "Pharaoh's whole army, his horses chariots and charioteers, caught u[ with them as they lay encamped..."  The Israelites see the Egyptians coming at them in to pursuit. Terrified and angry, they turn on Moses: "Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? ....Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today." Through Moses, God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites pass through it on dry ground, while Egypt's whole army parishes in the middle of their attempts to cross over and return the Israelites to being their slaves!

How challenging it is for us to leave the "Egypts" of our lives--those environments or attitudes or behaviors or  people that enslave us to evil or deprive us of the freedom God desires for us.  When we resolve to do what is right, the evil one does not give up. He pursues us just as the Egyptians pursued the Israelites. Do we "stand our ground"  until we "see the victory the Lord will win" for those who are faithful to His commands, seek is help and long to see His face.

The Birthday of Mary, the Mother of the Son of God

Today we celebrate the birth of Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, who assumed human nature through Mary in order to bring about our redemption, that is to save us from the power of Satan, who alluringly tricked Adam and Eve into disobedience and to this very day prowls throughout the world deceiving people into choosing their will above God’s will.  Just as Adam and Eve did not pass the test of free will neither do you and I. Without grace, we fall into sin over and over and over again! Our salvation? Jesus Christ born of Mary.

Mary was born free of original sin.  She, alone of all human beings other than the Incarnate Son of God, never fell into the pit Satan sets for each one of us: the pit of choosing our own wills over the will of our Creator. Mary, perfectly, followed the will of God in every circumstance of her life, saying “yes” to God over and over again. Her obedience to the will of God is exemplified so clearly for us in the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to communicate God’s will to her. Gabriel greets her as one who has found favor with God and tells her that she has been chosen “’to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel: ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.’ And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God…[Y]our cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said’”  (Luke 1: 312-38). 

Mary was 14 or 15 when the angel announced that she would be impregnated through the power of the Holy Spirit and conceive a son. Mary was betrothed to Joseph and not yet married. Conceiving out of wedlock, in her culture, meant that she faced the possibility of being stoned to death. She still said “yes” to God’s will for her.

When we are confronted with the possibility of very unpleasant consequences to following the path God asks us to traverse, what is our response?  Is our faith and trust in God as strong as Mary’s?  If not, let us call upon Mary to secure for us the graces we need to say “yes” to God in any circumstance, willing to pay whatever price is demanded of us!  God is there for us as truly as God was there for Mary and worked everything out for her even to the resurrection of her Son on Easter morn, rising  seeing her Son  triumphantly over death in accord with the Father’s will.

The Journey to the Promised Land

In today’s first reading, Jos 24: 1-13, Joshua gathers all of the tribes of Israel and  reviews for them all that the Lord has done on their behalf, tracing God’s presence in their lives all the way back to Abraham’s father Terah. He shows them how God stopped the Egyptians in their pursuit of them, delivered them from nations far more powerful than they,and thwarted a curse against them.  “It was not your sword or your bow”; it was not your military might, Joshua reminds them.  “I [the Lord,  Yahweh] gave you a land which you had not tilled and cities which you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.”

The same is true for us.  As with the Israelites, we are on our way to the Promised Land. As our inheritance as adopted children of God, God has given us a new Jerusalem, a city we did not build, vineyards we did not plant. On our journey here in the wilderness of this earth, God goes before us, leveling “cities,” overcoming powers that  lure us into worshiping false gods:  narcissism, atheistic materialism, consumerism, hedonism,  wealth for its own sake,  the glorification of the body as something to be worshiped, absolute freedom to do whatever we so choose even to assuming that it is okay to violate the rights of the unborn, of the poor and oppressed, of women and children, of immigrants, of persons viewed as minorities, of the earth itself and all that lives on it. 

If you and I gathered our families around us, going back several generations, what would the list of   blessings look like, I ask myself.  What false gods are we following? From what powerful “nations ”-- snares of the devil--has/ is God  rescuing us?  

The miracles God worked for the Israelites God will work for us in the 21^st century. I believe that! What is your belief? I pray for the grace that you and I have the courage and the wisdom  to cooperate with the Lord in bringing about the salvation of the world in some small way by our efforts,to avoid evil and  lead people to Jesus at the foot of the cross.

The Lord's Intervention

The first reading of today’s liturgy, Gen. 19: 15-29, tells of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the angel of the Lord urging Lot to leave before it was too late.  “‘On your way! Take with your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of Sodom.’ When he hesitated, the men, by the Lord’s mercy, seized his hands and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them to safety outside the city.”

Sometimes, the Lord has to say to us through his “angels,” “On your way!”   The Lord may be saying: “Don’t say that. Move away from this way of thinking, leave this situation, separate from this crowd or this couple or this relationship before poisonous fumes suffocate you, consume you, burn you.”  As with Lot, at times we may hesitate and need someone to grab us and walk us away from situations that are not spiritually healthy for us.  There may be times like these when we strongly react, saying “Leave me alone. I know what I am doing.  Don’t tell me what to do or where to go!” 

Spiritual warfare takes place frequently, if not daily.  Without a large dose of humility, lots of courage, a “bowlful” of wisdom we, like Lot, will resist the call of the Spirit to move on in our lives, to separate ourselves from unhealthy environments, unhealthy relationships, spiritually-famined attitudes and destructive behaviors.

As with Lot, who said to the Lord “You have already thought enough of your servant to do me the great kindness of intervening to save my life,” the Trinity also thought enough of each of us to intervene by the Son of God becoming one of us, to live and die for us, to show us the Trinity’s love for us.  We, too, are being saved from that which could destroy us spiritually:  selfishness and pride, covetousness and jealousy, envy and sloth that are capable of consuming us as the sulphurous fire consumed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lord, may I allow your “angels” to lead me to safety when I am unwilling to do so on my own!