After I finished graduate school, I was working with a young man in my parish, whom I’ll name Jason. He was fifteen and wanted to be baptized and confirmed. But because he had consistently missed meetings or failed to do his assignments, I finally told him I could no longer work with him. I felt he was not serious about it and was too far behind to catch up by Easter.
Shortly afterwards, I went to a funeral of a friend, which would seem to be totally unrelated to my experience with Jason, until God stepped in (he’s sneaky like that). After the funeral, God let me know he did not like my decision to dismiss Jason because he didn’t seem to care.
How could I expect a teenager to grasp what I barely understand about heaven, hell, judgment, salvation, forgiveness, grace, hope, penance, and Eucharist? If that’s not enough, how do I explain that we don’t wait until the end of our lives to catch the elevator that goes “up” to heaven or “down” to hell, but that the kingdom of heaven is here now in Christ?
How could I expect him to realize that our every action affects the lives of all those we are in relationship with and those who are just casual acquaintances when I was the worst example? I surely had to begin by seeking forgiveness from him for nearly letting him go. It made me recall the words of Catherine of Siena, “How could I reconcile myself. Lord, to the prospect that a single one of those whom, like me, you have created in your image and likeness should become lost and slip from your hands?”
Then, throw in the reality of Jesus as the embodiment of all those elements of our faith, and the sign of God’s love, which is all sheer mystery, not logical deduction. Saint Origen said, “Jesus is the kingdom in person.” He bridges the gap between already and not yet. I can’t get my own head around that!
Father Edward Farrell posits the question of why Jesus offered forgiveness on the cross and commanded the same from us. Could it be because Christ wants us to bring others to the table with us, especially those we have climbed over on our way there?
In the Penitential Rite of the Catholic Church, we confess our sins against God and our brothers and sisters. Then we invoke the prayers of the entire community that we may be forgiven by God. We do this from a longing to share in the love that gives our lives meaning, grounds our hope, and directs us toward our final end.
Hope must begin at the foot of the cross. The answer to the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” also begins there. Admitting and being sorrowful for our sins is the work of God within the heart of those with the courage to seek forgiveness in humility.
God does not want us to contemplate the “end times” for the sake of basking in thoughts of hell for those we hate. We cannot shout “Amen” to God’s commandment to love and deny that in so many ways we refuse to accept that Matthew 25 is speaking to us.
If we understood Jesus to be the essence of the promise of God, here and now, wouldn’t we seek to live that promise in love and charity for all? Yes! And that is what “compelled” me to call Jason to apologize, “I changed my mind, I don’t want to die and have you picket my funeral telling people what a jerk I was! Can we start over?” Which he graciously agreed to! I don’t have to have all the answers for Jason or myself. I simply pray that loving him where he is will result in him wanting to come to my funeral – without a picket sign! I hope I get this right
PASSION, PURPOSE & POOPYHEADS 