Thursday, June 28, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062818.cfm

Today, in Mercy, our Gospel reading leaves us with a question: are God and I really friends? Are we more than vague acquaintances who might pass by each other on a Sunday morning, maybe even wave from a distance?

Jesus talks about such people in today’s Gospel. They used God’s name a lot. They claimed that God supported their words and actions. But their actions were rooted in themselves not in the Word. Their faith was a pretense to justify their own agendas.

We human beings are very clever. We can take a scripture snippet and twist and turn it to our own designs. We can bastardize the Word of God to make it vindicate our prejudices. But Jesus says that if we do this, we will hear these dreaded words when we meet Him in eternity:

I never knew you.

How terrible that would be! Let the thought of it inspire us to open our hearts and souls to the deep truth of the Gospel. May that truth convert any selfishness and sinfulness in us into mercy and justice. May it turn our gaze from ourselves toward God and God’s dear Creation.

It is a continual transformation, but God is waiting, lovingly, to lead us.

Music: Lord, You have Searched Me and Known Me ~ Bernadette Farrell