When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
"God owes you nothing!" declared the Jansenist preachers, confessors, and catechists throughout Northern Europe and North America. Rome had condemned the teaching as heretical but, to avoid another schism in the Church, had not excommunicated its bishops, priests, and catechists. So they went on to excommunicate men and women from grace, salvation and the promise of heaven as they taught their brand of anxious scrupulosity to poor and middle class children throughout the world.
I learned it as a child, as did my parents and grandparents. Eternal damnation might be avoided only by frequent confession and infrequent communion (since we'd probably sinned between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.) I have encountered it in the confessional as chronically depressed persons mindlessly complain of their peccadilloes, convinced that God hates them. Sexual sins, in particular, were considered "mortal" and worthy of hell for all eternity; they included feelings, desires, thoughts -- intended and unintended -- words, and deeds. You were created for damnation, the Jansenists insisted. Why God had bothered to do this was never explained.
Eventually, their numbers dwindled as their followers abandoned all religion and pursued the superficial satisfactions this world can offer. They find little relief, however, as merchants urge them to eat, drink, and shop, while politicians raise false alarms about domestic security and foreign threats.
Bishop Saint Alphonsus of Ligouri opposed Jansenism with his writing, preaching, and teaching; and during his lifetime was roundly vilified for his trouble. He encouraged his seminarians to reassure devout persons of God's love, and to contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
He found that reassurance in the Scriptures, especially in passages like today's reading from Saint Matthew. (Jansenists, of course, included reading the Bible in their lists of mortal sins.)
Sanity, rationality, peace of mind, and God's word invite us to trust the Lord despite our anxieties. We are not sheep without a shepherd. We have only to return believe in Infinite Mercy, ponder God's word, and believe in the One who insists -- with his flesh and blood -- that he finds us worthy of salvation.
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.