3rd Sunday after Epiphany 23 Jan 2022 The real business
The main business of the Church is to save souls, or at least to help in that process. Only God can save, but we can help.
For one thing we can present ourselves for salvation, as in actively seeking the mercy and grace of God to cleanse us of sin already committed, and to steer us away from likely future sin.
For another thing we do what we can to help the work of salvation continue.
This is why we pray for other people, especially around the time of death, because we believe that God will hear the prayers of one person for another; and in death the one dying may not be able to pray.
Some question why they should pray for people they do not like. They do not deserve my prayer, one could say.
The words of today’s epistle bring home to us that we should pray, and also exercise charity towards the one in need, be it friend or foe. If your enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink… be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rm 12, 20-21).
This is one of the most defining points of Christianity, overcoming evil with good, exercising charity to one’s neighbour, without seeking anything in return. We might appreciate some return, but we must not make our behaviour conditional on any personal gain.
We seek solely the welfare of the other person.
We want what Christ wants, and this is the basis of the whole operation.
We would be right in saying a person does not ‘deserve’ mercy, because no one does. Mercy, by definition, cannot be ‘deserved’. It is a gift from the one who is in a position to punish, but shows mercy instead. In Christian terms we exercise mercy for the sake of bringing about a change of heart.
We really have to trust here, that God has already arrived where we are going, and He can see it much more plainly than we can.
He can see the good He has intended for each soul. Someone may at present look very ragged from a spiritual viewpoint, but God can see what he would look like with sufficient mercy and grace.
We see only the rough exterior, but there is a lot going on that we cannot see.
Another reason we might not pray (or exercise charity) for another is that we do not think the prayer will do any good. The person is ‘too far gone’, we think.
A conversion may be unlikely if you look at it strictly mathematically; but when miraculous grace goes into operation, we can expect surprises.
There are things that will happen if we pray, and will not happen if we do not pray.
Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof… the word of command from God is enough. He is more likely to speak that word if we have established trust in Him.
A miracle in this case becomes less of a surprise, but no less a wonder that God takes so much concern for us.
When it comes to converting sinners we are asking for an infusion of grace to move the heart and mind of the one for whom we are praying.
God can do this, and will respond if we ask Him. Some people will take more converting than others; and probably some are beyond reach, for all practical purposes.
But we do what the word of God says: we bless those who curse, we feed them if they are hungry, we wish them to know the mercy of God, and themselves come eventually to Heaven.
If we don’t want others to receive mercy then we need to ask for mercy ourselves to soften our hearts! Saving souls is our main line of business.
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