Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

“Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord.

“Why are you so displeased with me
that you burden me with all this people?
Was it I who conceived all this people?
Or was it I who gave them birth.…

Reading the Book of Exodus we often hear the Lord and Moses commiserating with one another. Shepherding the newly liberated Hebrews from Egypt through the Sinai desert toward the Promised Land wears them out. When Moses is ready to quit God urges him on; when God is utterly frustrated with them, Moses reminds him of his reputation. They sound very much like young parents who suddenly find themselves with a houseful of children. Each wonders, “What have I done to deserve this punishment?”

Jesus and Saint Paul will echo the same complaints many centuries later, and I’m sure they are common among our leaders today. Fortunately, the scriptures also assure us of God’s patience with us. Truly, His mercy is everlasting.

The fact is our salvation takes a very long time. Despite the myth of sudden transformations and deathbed conversions, the purification of our memories, desires, resentments and guilt takes a very long time.

·         An addict doesn’t quit using on a single day; it takes years to completely forget the desire. She may have to renew her pledge daily and hourly until her last breath.

·         People who indulge in pornography sear their imagination with images that burn the retina of their hearts, leaving them impaired for years afterward. The horror plagues their spousal, parental, filial and professional relationships.

·         Resentments burrow into our brains like tapeworms and cause a form of madness. Only God’s sovereign authority can remove them and we must be continually alert to their recurrence.

·         Guilt demands atonement first to the victims, and then to society, God, and oneself. Saying “I’m sorry” is rarely enough.

·         Finally, learning to love and desire God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength takes a lifetime of discipline.

Only the mercy of God exempts us from this arduous process as we approach death and God’s judgment seat; but we are assured the purification will continue into eternity. That too is by the Mercy of God who wants us “to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS of God.”