Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 432

For God did not destine us for wrath,
but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him.
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.


Because the response to our psalm today (Psalm 27) bears repeating, I'll repeat it: I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
    I am pessimistic. I am not sure if that attitude came by nature or nurture but it's an outlook apparently set in the stony foundations of my heart. Faced with the insult of aging and inevitability of decline, I say, "Of course! I knew that!"  But I find relief in the practice of faith. God did not destine us for wrath.
    What would be the point of God's creating us if we're doomed to damnation before we even start? Surely the Lord who made rainbows, sunsets and butterflies has better things to do than that!
    But the Lord, in creating us specifically in his own image, could not make salvation or satisfaction or justification or whatever-you-might-call the "goal" of our nature an easy attainment. That would dishonor our dignity. It had to be a challenge; it had to be a complete emptying of self even as the Father is emptied by the total expression of the Son. It must be like the Son's self-abandonment in his love of the Father and his love of us.
    The Lord would not command us to do what he would not do; that is, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and your neighbor as yourself. He must lead the way!
    Nor will the Lord be disappointed. He has gained salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death.
   The Holy Spirit -- who is God -- enables us to make our daily sacrifices through a lifetime of self-sacrifice. Few of us could throw ourselves into the bonfire of God's mercy but we can daily look for, create and use opportunities to forget our particular preferences and act for the sake of others. That same Spirit gathers us to the Church each week to become an oblation to the Father in the hands of Jesus.
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.