A note from Fr. Scott
A short while ago, I was driving down a fairly
well-trafficked street when I noticed the cars ahead of me begin to slow down
and then come to a stop. It soon became
evident that a dog was wandering around in the middle of the road, weaving in
between cars. All the drivers carefully
inched forward when they could. The dog
appeared confused, although did seem to be headed north in a round-about way.
After I was safely past the dog, I
checked my rearview mirror and saw a pick-up truck had pulled over, the
occupants had disembarked, and the dog seemed to know them (or was just
extremely friendly). Maybe the dog had
fallen out of the back of the pick-up and belonged to the pick-up family, and
was momentarily confused by all the traffic.
But the aimless wandering brought back memories of First Penance we had
just celebrated a few weeks ago.
The children that
came to celebrate that wonderful sacrament of God’s forgiving love did not
wander aimlessly at all. They
speed-walked to the priests—they must have been taught not to run in church,
but they certainly walked faster than normal.
Every child I saw did that. It
was almost as if they were hurrying to receive God’s mercy. They couldn’t wait!
Maybe the children understand some things that adults
don’t, or that adults seem to have forgotten.
God’s mercy is amazingly abundant, overflowing, and inexhaustible! There’s nothing God won’t forgive as long as
we ask and we’re sorry. Nothing! Many people, however, don’t seem to grasp
that. “God could never forgive me for
the things I’ve done,” seems to be a common belief—not a correct belief, but a
common one.
I imagine that’s been a human problem for many centuries,
maybe always. That’s why the Church
introduced Divine Mercy Sunday, always the Sunday after Easter. Pope John Paul II was Pope at the time and
while he noted that the Church has always preached God’s mercy, it appeared
that present times needed a renewed emphasis on God’s mercy due to the world’s
so-called “progress”, which has created many more occasions for sin. (Just think “internet” or “human cloning”.)
And now this Divine Mercy weekend, Pope John Paul will be
canonized along with Pope John XXIII.
(They will now be known as St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII.) It is fitting that the two become saints on
Divine Mercy Sunday, for Pope John XXIII also emphasized God’s mercy. He will always be known as the Pope who
convened the Second Vatican Council, calling for the Church to clarify its
relationship with the surrounding world.
John XXIII recognized that the world often saw the Church as emphasizing
punishment rather than the “medicine of God’s mercy”. Some of us might remember growing up with the
image of God as “punishing judge” rather than “loving parent”. I admit I did. Today I have trouble believing that God wants
anyone to be afraid of Him! (How often
did Jesus say “Do not be afraid!”?)
While we must never be taught that “anything goes”, when we
do sin we not only have a God Who forgives us, but also a God Who gifts us with
the grace to resist temptation in the future.
Have a blessed week . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment