This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
We may unconsciously categorize the depiction of the Lord in the first reading as imperfect, proper to an Old Testament view of God:
“The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,
continuing his kindness for a thousand generations,
and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin;
yet not declaring the guilty guiltless,
but punishing children and grandchildren
to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!”
But in reality, this depiction perfectly describes the reality we live in as Christians, a reality brought to fulfillment with the coming of Jesus.
Jesus does not declare the guilty guiltless, and He has not chosen to remove the devastating effects of original sin from humanity with His coming–punishing effects that continue to pass from generation to generation.
But He is, above all, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, generation after generation; He forgives everyone who comes to Him.
And today’s gospel bears all this out. At the end of time, God does not declare the guilty guiltless; rather, evildoers are gathered like weeds and thrown into the fiery furnace.
Here we see the chasm that exists for eternity between those who have been weak and sinful, but have returned often to the well of God’s mercy, and those who choose willfully to persist in their sin, resisting all God’s invitations to conversion. The first may be confident, full of hope; the second are heading for a terrible destiny. It is confusing these two groups that often leads to a false depiction of mercy in our times. Our job as Christians, through our prayer, sacrifice, and counsel, is to help move others from the second group to the first.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to incorporate you, according to His own plan, into His beautiful drama of salvation, and offer Him your life for the salvation and sanctification of others.
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