God loves us no matter what?

 

The True Meaning of Unconditional Love

(Homily for Sunday, October 1st 2023)

Today’s readings are clear that mercy and conversion are not opposed but actually go together.

In the first reading (Ezekiel 18:25-28), God is merciful with the sinner who repents and does the right thing, but punishes the good person who becomes corrupt and does evil. Now, obviously, if this last person, who became corrupt, repents and does again the right thing, he or she will be saved. While there is time, God gives us the opportunity to change for the better.

In the Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32), the son who says “no” to his father but later changes his mind and does his father’s will, this son is placed by the Lord as the model, as the good son. The Pharisees had said “yes” to the prophecies of the Scripture, but when the prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, they did not accept them anymore and did not follow Jesus. The sinners, instead, who had said “no” to the law of Moses and the Scriptures, had repented and followed the Lord. These last ones are the ones entering the kingdom of Heaven, while the Pharisees are being left behind... But the Lord says, “[they] are entering the Kingdom of God before you,” he doesn’t say, “you will not enter” because, if the Pharisees repent and believe, they can also enter the Kingdom.

St. Paul (Philippians 2:1-5) asks of his children to be one in love and in faith and to do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory.

In other words, for God it is not the same if a person chooses to be bad or good. Their choice matters to God. God wants his children to repent and do his will. God knows that all of his children have at some time said “no” to him, but He wants all of them to change their mind and do what He says. It matters whether we chose to do good or to do bad. At least, it matters for God.

“But, father, how can you say that? God loves us no matter what!”

So then, God does not care if you are good or bad?

Suppose that you have a child and your child is sick. You love your children no matter what, right? If a son of yours is healthy, you love him but if he is sick, you love him the same. It doesn’t matter to you if he is sick or not, you love him, in good and in bad. Now, does this mean that you don’t take him to the doctor? You love him even when he is sick, but you don’t want him to be sick. If you truly love your son, you do everything in your power to restore his health. It is not the same for you that he is sick. Precisely because you love him no matter what, you do everything you can to heal him. It would certainly be more comfortable to do nothing for a child who is sick, or to get rid of him but, would you call that love? Would you call that mercy? Is it mercy to see a person suffering and do nothing for them, when you are able to do something?

God did for us sinners what a good father would have done for his sick child. He came to save us. Precisely because he loved sinners, he came to give them the opportunity, the possibility and the graces they needed in order to repent and be good. He gave us the medicine: now is up to us to take it or not. But for Him, it is not the same. If you take the medicine and heal, you are a good child, but if you don’t want to take the medicine, He is not going to save you against your will.

God loves us no matter what. No matter how many and how serious your sins may have been, God still calls you to repentance and gives you another chance to be the best. As He did with St. Paul, As He did with St. Peter, God looks at the sinner and, where everybody else cannot see but a corrupt, a criminal or a monster, God sees a glimpse of hope, a spark of holiness, the sprout of a hero... God can change a sinner into a saint, which is his greatest miracle. The sinner needs only to open the door to God’s mercy.

This is the “problem” with God’s love: He truly cares. He will not let you sink into your sins and say nothing to you. God wants us to enjoy true life and this is not possible with sin. This is why He always calls us to repentance, not only from mortal sins but also from venial sins. And not because He enjoys bugging us about everything, but because He knows that we are meant to be great and enjoy things we have never dreamed of... May we follow God’s lead, so that we may enjoy God’s friendship in this life already and in the next, with the saints, for ever.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Church Built Upon Rock

(On Matthew 16:16-18) Jesus does not say to Simon you are the rock (the petra , rock in Greek). He says to him “you are Peter ( Petros ) and upon this petra I will build my Church” ( Matthew 16:18). St. Augustine explains that the name Peter comes from petra as the name Christian comes from Christ. [1] We are Christians because we participate in the life, grace, truth, doctrine, body and blood of Jesus Christ. Simon is Peter because he participates in the stability and firmness of the petra , the rock which is Jesus Himself. There is something in Peter which is as stable and firm as a rock. [2] Peter is not the rock: he will still break a few times, and Jesus knows it. Peter will die one day, and Jesus knows it. But Peter’s confession will never break, it will never pass away, it will never be moved to the left or to the right. Peter’s confession will never die: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” ( Matthew 16:16). How can the confession of a man be so stable? Have no...
Read more

To Ceasar What Belongs to Ceasar

Is God’s power opposed to political power? What is the relationship between these powers? Today’s readings shed some light on this mystery. God’s power is superior to any human power. Cyrus’s power comes from God (cf. Isaiah 45:1, 4-6) as does every authority on earth. Nobody could obtain human power without God’s allowing it. Some people use God’s given power in the wrong way, but God does not punish all of them in this life. God’s power is not opposed to the right use of human power. Jesus does not oppose Ceasar regarding taxes (cf. Matthew 22:15-21). Ceasar has a certain right over the material goods of his subjects. God, however, has an absolute right to our faith and love. If Ceasar ever asked us something against our faith and our love, we would not give it to him, because Ceasar is not more than God. Ceasar could send us to jail until death, but God can punish us and Ceasar after death and forever. In those cases, we must obey God rather than human beings. Even in cas...
Read more

God’s Glory and the World’s Approval

“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” What is this glory? We are not meant to obtain from this world a glory we do not yet have. The world cannot give us what we want. We are meant to glorify God with the glory he has already given us, so that we may then receive further glory, not from the world, but from Him. We go from the glory we have to the glory we do not yet have, as St. Paul says, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” ( 1 Corinthians 3:18). Modern society, with its own standards and values, exercises a certain pressure on Christians. It is peer pressure sometimes, it is also felt like an attraction other times, or like the threat of failure if we do not comply. The world offers us its own “salvation” from the evils of life; the world offers its own “redemption” from our sense of failure and worthlessness; the world offers its own...
Read more