5th Sunday after Epiphany 5.2.17 Judgment
There will be a judgment at the end of time. Many are
probably very hazy about the idea that their lives are to be judged by a higher
power.
Today individualism is the dominant creed. People think they
have the right to set their own course, and define their own end as well (eg
the right to suicide).
Most people fear death, but there are probably not many
today who fear judgment after death.
When we talk of judgment, immediately the question arises,
But what about Mercy? Is not God merciful? How then we talk of an adverse
judgment?
God wants to be merciful, certainly. He wants all people to
be saved (1 Tim 2,4).
Judgment is what remains when mercy is not accepted. It is
on offer, all the time, to everyone. For various reasons a person might not
accept the mercy. In such a case Judgment (adverse) is all that remains.
There are many reasons why people might not accept mercy
from God.
They might be hard of heart, refusing to repent, to turn
away from a life of sin. If they persist in this state to the end of their
lives there can be only Judgment, not mercy - not because God has suddenly
become harsh, but because they do not want any fellowship with Him.
God will not force union with Himself. There has to be that
moment of consent from each person before the salvation process can take
effect.
God will
not override free will but He will put a lot of things in front of each person
to induce repentance.
He has been
putting things in front of us since the Fall, with extra intensity from the
time of the Incarnation. He has given us His Son, the Church, the Sacraments,
the Saints, and time for each one to repent. These things are given generally
to all, and also He gives specific signs to individuals, according to their circumstances.
To ignore all the signs right up to the end is indeed hardness of heart.
Or people might
be presumptuous. They believe in God, and hope to go to Heaven, but do not make
any serious effort to please God in their lives.
This shows
a disregard for God, which is certainly not ‘loving’ Him - the first
commandment.
Or they
might be despairing – feeling so guilty about their lives that they dare not
approach the throne of mercy. But no sin can be greater than God’s mercy. There
is no sin unforgivable if there is genuine contrition. Like the prodigal son we
are welcome to approach Him.
God does
not love evil but He does love evildoers - not because they do evil, but
because they are in need of being saved.
Those of us trying to be good can feel that God is being too
patient with evildoers, but we have to remember that salvation is His main aim.
It is better for the good to suffer for a time, so that more
of the (presently) evil can repent; better this than to wipe out the evildoers
before they have a chance to repent.
Then, of course, some of us would have been ‘evildoers’ of
one sort or another in the past, and now we can be glad we were not wiped out!
Mercy is there for all who believe in it and want it. And
God wants it more than we do! Yet, sadly it is easy to miss the urgency of the
whole thing and live as though there were no tomorrow, or at least no hell.
We do have to face Our Lord in judgment but it will not be
terrifying if we live constantly in His grace during this life.
No comments:
Post a Comment