+ The theme of our celebration today is the extravagant mercy of God as is manifest
in the astounding story of the Prodigal Father and his son! The one thing that
God likes to do most is to show us a father’s love and shower us with mercy – a
lot of times even before we ask for it. We can count on the fact that he
understands us completely – inside and out – with our true weaknesses,
limitations, and sinfulness – and that all he requires for the unleashing of
oceans of mercy upon us –is a sign of willingness to admit that we are in need
of it. Sometimes it is necessary for us to spout out our deeply regretted
offenses and sins – as in the Sacrament of Confession. Sometimes just cry out
for mercy and forgiveness from the depths of our souls is enough by itself. In
either case, God will not force anything upon us – not love, nor mercy, nor
forgiveness. But if we want it – if our wills are moved to conversion – then he
is right there with it in super extravagance and abundance!
The
people of the first reading – God’s own people of the Old Testament
times – were so absorbed in themselves that a lot of them probably did not even
know that they were sinners; others maybe knew, but at that point didn’t care;
others would be obstinate to the very end. Moses had his hands full just
holding back the hand of God’s justifiable
wrath – reminding him that he is a
God of mercy – and that the distribution of mercy is what he did best.
What
was it that made God so angry with them as to consider even withholding mercy? The only answer I can come
up with is that it was a double sin
against faith and charity – as these two always go together. Those whose
faith is very weak also have a great deal of difficulty “getting out of their
own way.” They need to hang onto
something, so they hang on to their own selves and their own egos. The one
motivating good in their lives is themselves. This goes against the first
commandment, and is also a sin against
faith; making themselves a god, they displace the real God and have faith
in no one but themselves; thereby they also, steal charity – goodness and good works that others are entitled to
- because they want to satisfy themselves. This sounds a great deal like the
people Moses was dealing with. But even this people could erase all of that
selfishness by sincerely asking God to have mercy on them and to forgive them.
St.
Paul in the second reading tells us that he was a very great sinner.
He was persecuting the church and trying to stamp it out at its origins. But
the grace and mercy and forgiveness of Christ came upon him in a powerful way –
like a great flash of light – and
Paul was never the same. His life turned from one of self-service and
righteousness – to one of amazing surrender to God’s will and grace so that charity could prevail – the
charity that is life in Christ – life in the Church.
May
our faith and our charity increase this day because we consciously
seek God’s mercy, love and forgiveness
– he is so very willing to accept our sorrow and contrition and help us
transform them into a life of living for and loving others alone. We have the
wherewithal – the graces, the love and even the material resources to share -
so that others who are in need – no matter where they are in our lives, or in
the world – will have what God wants them to have – using us and our
outstanding generosity!
Give
thanks to the Lord for He is good – his love and mercy are everlasting and
available always!
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