A 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Today's entry for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost in The Inner Life of the Soul is simply too rich and varied to consider all of it in any great detail. Instead, we'll focus on one theme after a brief summary.
It begins by urging complete confidence in God and questions why most of us do not exhibit this confidence. We learn that confidence can and should prevail even though we ourselves may be sinners, referencing the De Profundis. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and yet, in spite of our sinfulness, and our failing to love Him as we should, He loves us. Just look at a Crucifix if you're not perfectly confident in this Love. (More on that below.)
Because He knows us and loves us so deeply, Sacred Scripture contains "most fearful warnings, most severe threats, most terrible examples of chastisement, most awe-inspiring pictures of final doom and eternal despair." These are not meant simply to frighten us. They help restrain our unruly passions and thoughts, a restraint that doesn't come naturally to so many of us.
But God does not stop there. He wants more than simply restraint. The restraint of sinful and unruly thoughts and passions allows us to go to God without restraint.
Recall the Four Last Things that Holy Mother Church has traditionally taught us to consider and meditate upon: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. These are yet another means to concentrate our minds on what really matters rather than the thousand and one frivolous thoughts and distractions that stress and confuse us throughout the day. Can't we set aside time for God amidst this cacophony of triviality? If we can, a world more substantial, more real emerges.
"Evermore, among the multitude cowering before the whirlwind of the judgment, there will be those who can never cease to see, against a darker sky, on a far more awful day, the cross of Christ that proved His love for men. Evermore there will be souls that will cry to Him: 'I will never let Thee go, except Thou bless me. Thou He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.' Evermore there will be hearts possessed with the infinite passion of love - hearts that have heard Christ cry, in His dying thirst: 'Satiate My Heart! Satiate My Heart!' and who so love their neighbor as themselves, that their confident, exulting plea is this: 'I will never let Thee go, except Thou bless these with me.'"
See how the author blends a healthy fear of judgment with the awfulness of the Crucifixion as proof of God's love for us. And see how those who strive to grow closer to God each day of their lives find the strength and confidence to trust in Him no matter the sorrow and suffering they might have to endure. See also how those who strive for spiritual perfection beg for God's mercy and love not only for themselves, but for their neighbor as well.
Our struggle to understand and confidently accept both the justice and mercy of God opens our minds to the stunning image our author now presents:
"I see the Son of Man proclaim judgment on sinful men, and the terrors of the tremendous day. Then I see Him stoop, He that shall be the Judge Himself hereafter, stoop among those that tear His hands and feet, and gather the lost sheep home. Looking on the Judge's face, I see the Good Shepherd's face..."
Seeing Christ as both Judge and Good Shepherd provides the hope that sustains us in our daily struggle for holiness.
"If this be the hope for the darkest sinner of our race, why should not those who in trembling love try to serve God, despite many falls, hope well?..."
On this 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, let us pray for the grace to not only fear God's judgement as a means to restrain the sinful impulses of our fallen human nature, but also to rejoice as the Good Shepherd gathers His lost sheep into His infinitely loving arms.
It begins by urging complete confidence in God and questions why most of us do not exhibit this confidence. We learn that confidence can and should prevail even though we ourselves may be sinners, referencing the De Profundis. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and yet, in spite of our sinfulness, and our failing to love Him as we should, He loves us. Just look at a Crucifix if you're not perfectly confident in this Love. (More on that below.)
Because He knows us and loves us so deeply, Sacred Scripture contains "most fearful warnings, most severe threats, most terrible examples of chastisement, most awe-inspiring pictures of final doom and eternal despair." These are not meant simply to frighten us. They help restrain our unruly passions and thoughts, a restraint that doesn't come naturally to so many of us.
But God does not stop there. He wants more than simply restraint. The restraint of sinful and unruly thoughts and passions allows us to go to God without restraint.
Recall the Four Last Things that Holy Mother Church has traditionally taught us to consider and meditate upon: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. These are yet another means to concentrate our minds on what really matters rather than the thousand and one frivolous thoughts and distractions that stress and confuse us throughout the day. Can't we set aside time for God amidst this cacophony of triviality? If we can, a world more substantial, more real emerges.
"Evermore, among the multitude cowering before the whirlwind of the judgment, there will be those who can never cease to see, against a darker sky, on a far more awful day, the cross of Christ that proved His love for men. Evermore there will be souls that will cry to Him: 'I will never let Thee go, except Thou bless me. Thou He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.' Evermore there will be hearts possessed with the infinite passion of love - hearts that have heard Christ cry, in His dying thirst: 'Satiate My Heart! Satiate My Heart!' and who so love their neighbor as themselves, that their confident, exulting plea is this: 'I will never let Thee go, except Thou bless these with me.'"
See how the author blends a healthy fear of judgment with the awfulness of the Crucifixion as proof of God's love for us. And see how those who strive to grow closer to God each day of their lives find the strength and confidence to trust in Him no matter the sorrow and suffering they might have to endure. See also how those who strive for spiritual perfection beg for God's mercy and love not only for themselves, but for their neighbor as well.
Our struggle to understand and confidently accept both the justice and mercy of God opens our minds to the stunning image our author now presents:
"I see the Son of Man proclaim judgment on sinful men, and the terrors of the tremendous day. Then I see Him stoop, He that shall be the Judge Himself hereafter, stoop among those that tear His hands and feet, and gather the lost sheep home. Looking on the Judge's face, I see the Good Shepherd's face..."
Seeing Christ as both Judge and Good Shepherd provides the hope that sustains us in our daily struggle for holiness.
"If this be the hope for the darkest sinner of our race, why should not those who in trembling love try to serve God, despite many falls, hope well?..."
On this 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, let us pray for the grace to not only fear God's judgement as a means to restrain the sinful impulses of our fallen human nature, but also to rejoice as the Good Shepherd gathers His lost sheep into His infinitely loving arms.
Happy Sunday!
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