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“Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.” (St. Matthew 11.16-17) |
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As our Creator He commanded us, but we did not obey.
As our Suitor He wooed us, but we fled.
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As a jealous Lover He rose up when we ran off to the arms of false lovers.
Through the desert He pursued us for forty years.
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In the oases He sung to us and we resolutely spurned Him, turning aside to other lovers.
Through his prophets He pleaded, remonstrated, coaxed, even threatened us ... to no avail.
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In our fecklessness He exiled us ... only to call us back.
We hung our harps over the banks of foreign rivers, and mingled our tears with their waters ... He relented.
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We then slew His prophets and went our way.
He then chastised us and when we cried He healed us.
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Finally He sent His Only Begotten Son.
We crucified Him.
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His Son sent His Apostles.
We crucified them, too.
He makes Saints of the sons and daughters of men ... our
children ... and still we turn aside.
Promises of Heaven. Threats of Hell — We are deaf to them equally.
What does it take?
Is it little wonder that so many make light of Hell and take Heaven
for granted?
It is called the “sin of presumption” –
our presuming upon God’s forgiveness, our
presuming His mercy, His love, His goodness. We attempt
to bind God’s
freedom through our license. In the end, in a terrible sense
of entitlement, we are even blind to Christ on the Cross, presuming
— as though we ourselves had purchased — our own salvation.
After all, He “has to” do it if He’s really
God. Right? (“If
you are really the Christ, come down from that Cross!”
—
sound familiar?
*
As though we would behave any differently if we were forced
into Paradise ... and as though Paradise would be Heaven populated
by people exactly like us. People doing as we would have them do
... much as we would have God do what we would have Him do.
Parents call such children “brats”. Holy Mother Church calls such
children “obdurate”.
God calls them — and they simply do not come.
You can coerce them to the Banquet Table ... but you
cannot force them to eat the Bread of Angels ...
What, then, does it take?
Let us be absolutely clear: All that has already been
done ...
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
Comments? Write us: editor@boston-catholic-journal.com
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* Saint Matthew 27:40
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Totally Faithful to the Sacred Deposit of
Faith entrusted to the Holy See in Rome
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