The gospel passage today reminds us that Jesus came for one purpose only: to redeem sinners! He came to call sinners to righteousness! He came to call God's chosen people to holiness! In other words – he came to call us – you, and me – to an amazing new kind of relationship which involves our transformation and ultimate perfection! This transformation involves faith and action!
Both our first and second readings today refer to the Old Testament. In the second reading Abraham indeed becomes "the father of many nations" by his very act of believing that God could make him such – even though he was 100 years old – and his wife Sarah was well past child-bearing age! And because nothing could deter his faith in God fulfilling his promise – it came to pass – and he was the first one to be truly called a righteous man (in Old Testament times) – his righteousness existing in light of the death and resurrection of Christ which would come much later on! He was the first to believe in an all-powerful, all-loving, all-caring God – who could do what he said: even raising his Son from the dead for our essential justification!
When we believe in Jesus – we are children of Abraham – the first to believe. And our belief is credited to us as righteousness, and justification as well – so long as it includes the activity of putting that faith into the action of service for the needs of other believers and non-believers alike!
In the first reading from Hosea, God tells his people that he is not interested in their animal sacrifices and holocausts, he would much rather have them seek knowledge and understanding of who he is and who they are in relation to him; and be a loving person among a community of loving persons who are trying to make a real difference in the world.
Action coupled with belief allows the light of God's power and presence to shine forth and the cloudy dew of confusion and half-hearted measures to be dissipated.
What we ought to see in the clear light of God's day is that God is God and we are not! God is God and we fall short – so very often, and so very short! We ought to see that God is Merciful and Loving Father, and we are called to be reconciled, renewed, peace-filled children! We ought to see that Jesus is calling us to repentance and conversion – this and every day of our lives! We ought to be able to see that no one is exempt!
St. John tells us (in another place) that if we say we have no sin then we are liars! If we say we have no sin – then we are saying that Jesus death was meaningless – for in his intention for undergoing it he included everyone – including us!
Everyone sins! And everyone is in need of God's Mercy and Love and Forgiveness! And my dear friends: virtually no one goes to Confession on a Saturday afternoon anymore!
Water and blood poured out from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus after dying for our salvation (June is the Month of the Sacred Heart) so that a magnificent transformation could take place in our lives: so that we could become entirely new creations! Our baptism begins that transformation process – but when we sin after Baptism – it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation – Confession – that cleans our pipes, unclogs the channels, and gets the life of grace flowing to the maximum through us so that that process can continue, that our faith-based service to others can resume, and we can be all that we are meant to be!
I would be more than happy to come here one Saturday morning a month to "clean pipes," to "unclog channels," to get the life of grace flowing again to its maximum level" - to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance – if someone would only come. I would think that being returned to the amazingly new spiritual condition that one had on the day of one's Baptism would be something worth participating in on a regular basis! I would even be happy be give an in-depth class (or catechetical teaching) on the full meaning of the sacrament as well – if there was sufficient support for this!
The Mercy of God is boundless – he wants us to experience it – so we can transmit it to others – so that his love can transform the world! and lead us all into everlasting happiness! Let us accept his mercy, let us accept his love, let us accept his forgiveness. It makes him so very happy to offer these things to us! and to have us receive them.
To the upright, I will show the saving power of God!
Help us Lord to become upright and to stay upright!
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