(1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59, Psalm 1 Chronicles 29:10BCD, 11ABC, 11D-12A, 12BCD, 4-5AB; Luke 19:45-48)
How beautiful is mankind when we follow our God! And how ugly are we when we turn away… In both of today’s readings we read of those who love and honor God and in doing so they experience his love and abundance. In our first reading God’s children are joyously rebuilding the temple, in today’s Gospel God’s children are “hanging on his (Jesus’) words.” Then there those who choose a path incongruent with the will of God, whether they are the Gentiles in our first reading or those in the temple area making it a “den of thieves”. Today, we don’t look much different. While many follow him, many still do not. Given the ISIS attack in Paris this week the effects of evil in the world, a turning away from God, is all too palpable.
So how can this be when Jesus came to seek and find the lost, when God made us in body and soul – and he declared it was good? Of course the root cause of mankind’s turning away from God is sin and the evil one who stands behind all the untruths and false happiness sin promises. However, as Christians we know that Jesus is coming back and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him…” (Rev. 1:7 -8) and he will come back in the same way he went into heaven. (Acts 1:11) Everything will be brought into the light and all will see the truth. As Catholics we understand additional truth, respite and comfort in Mother Mary, truth that will be revealed to the entire world at the appointed time as “all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).
So where am I going with tall of this? Well, looking back through my ancestry I acknowledge that I do not have a drop of blood from God’s chosen people. Rather, being Swedish, English and Irish I come from a lineage of pagans and Gentiles -real barbarians who were undeniably full of sin. Undoubtedly, I carry the blood of those who pierced our precious Lord on countless occasions. So how is it that I am blessed to enjoy so profoundly our Catholic faith? How is it that I can be so loved by our Lord that I have the privilege to humble myself before him and beg for his love? How is it that my heart cries out to bring multitudes to him so that they too can know the truth?
The answer lies in the heart of another who deeply loved our Lord so much that he or she shared the truth. Someone, somewhere along the way cared enough, was brave enough, to share the truth with my ancestors. My guess is it took many “someones”, each of them planting, tending and harvesting the soil my ancestors lived in, beginning perhaps with St. Patrick as my Catholic faith has been handed down through my Irish ancestry. And now I am blessed to not only enjoy the reaping of the harvest, I am blessed to hold within a deep yearning to bring others to Christ.
Today the world is filled with God’s children who still do not know him. We cannot imagine how much this pains our God. Yet, we can relate in small portion when we experience the pain of a loved who has been separated from us. During my time in prison ministry I witnessed the pain experienced in individuals who grew up in a milieu riddled with sin and lies, a childhood devoid of God. Yet, when they finally did come to know God, through the labors of those tending their soil, their eyes and hearts opened to the beautiful truth. I can only imagine that my pagan ancestors felt the same way when their eyes and hearts were opened.
The world is in desperate need of messengers, individuals who will share the truth of Christ with others. God’s children are perishing for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6) And it is us Christians who can share the message of love God has for the world. We can make a difference, more of God’s children can be saved. Perhaps we are facing the end times and his second coming is at hand, perhaps we are not – it is not for us to know such knowledge. However, what we do know is that we are facing hard times and evil is revealing it’s ugly head across the landscape of God’s earth. Given this, we must evangelize and draw others in to the truth. We will do this with our love, we will do this through forgiveness which our Savior authored and most of all, we will do this because “he who is within is greater than he who is in the world”. (1 John 4:4) It’s time to reclaim the inheritance God has for all his children – let us be the messengers so that multitudes will come to know him.
“… We ought, therefore, to show concrete signs of humility, fraternity, forgiveness and reconciliation. These signs are the prerequisite of a true, stable, and lasting peace. Let us ask the Father to anoint us so that we may fully become his children, ever more conformed to Christ, and may learn to see one another as brothers and sisters. Thus, by putting aside our grievances and divisions, we can show fraternal love for one another. This is what Jesus asks of us in the Gospel: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you always” (John 14:15-16)”
– Pope Francis’s homily during Mass in the International Stadium
Jesus – I love you!
