Lectionary: 247“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?
...So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people.
When a large construction company sets out to build a skyscraper they have to figure the costs, which will include building materials, worker-hours, work delays, cost overruns, injuries, lawsuits and accidental death. They don't want anyone to die and it doesn't have to happen, but it often does.
When an entrepreneur opens a grocery store she has to calculate the costs of shoplifting. It shouldn't happen but it does. If she doesn't expect petty crime, it may sink the whole business.
When God created the human race and, later, when God made covenants first with the Jews and then with the Church, God knew there would be sin. It's not necessary but it is real. Ideals and disappointment about them exist in human minds; they don't trouble God's considerations.
The History of Salvation is a history of sin. The Christian who thinks it should be otherwise might as well butt his head against the wall. It might make him feel better.
We join the Church knowing it is both sinful and saving. We join the Church because we know we need salvation and it comes through the Church. If there was another way we would certainly go that way; it would have to be less disenchanting, simpler and more pleasant.
When we join the Church and experience the river of affection that sweeps us into full membership, having taken up the cross, carried it to its bitter end, and experienced an astonishing resurrection, we discover to our infinite delight how good God is.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.