Friday, March 31,
2017
I wrote yesterday about the
enormity of God’s mercy and His love, of this boundless goodness that is too
great for us to comprehend and too magnificent for us to define or describe. I also
wrote about how the Pharisees simply couldn’t accept Jesus as the Messiah
because they couldn’t “wrap their minds around” the veritable explosion of
religious understanding that he came to bring.
The tension between the
Pharisees and Jesus is depicted in the daily Mass readings at this point in the
Lenten journey. Today we hear words which are understood as a direct prediction
of the Passion of Jesus. The statement comes to us from the book of Wisdom 2:1,
12-22
The wicked said
among themselves, thinking not aright: ‘Let us beset the just one, because he
is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings. . . . He calls blest
the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see whether
his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. . . . With
revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his
gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according
to his own words, God will take care of him.’
These were
their thoughts but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew
not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of
holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.
I am reminded of the way Jesus
was mocked as he was dying on the cross: “If he is the son of God, let God come
down and save him.” (Mark 15:31-32; Matthew 27:42)
Of course, what they fail to
take into account is the fact that the work of God and the power of His love
and grace is not limited to this life only nor to what we can see and
experience here in this world. So much of it, in fact--may I dare say the
greatest part of it--is experienced beyond this life and beyond the
present reality of what we can see, touch, taste, feel, hear or experience.
Please take this as a
consolation. As Paul said, “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as
nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Reread the
Beatitudes and understand that peace and happiness and blessedness are the
Divine reward for what we undergo here and now, and those things, once given to
us, will never come to an end.
We enjoy times and even years of
peace, blessedness, consolation and joy. These are just rewards and gifts from God,
and a sign to us of the great destiny that awaits the blessed. Give thanks for
the good things you enjoy at this present time, and if your present time is
marked by pain and anguish, look beyond it and realize that the good that is in
your destiny will far outpace whatever you may have to endure now.
I say this often, and I’ll say
it again here: God loves you and wants you to make it to heaven.
God bless you! Have a nice
weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment