Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 21, 2026: Lord, in your great love, answer me...

Lord, in your great love, answer me…
 What does salvation look like? 

    Humankind’s understanding of what constitutes salvation has evolved greatly over time. When the prophet Jeremiah prays to the Lord, he is hoping to be saved from his former friends, now his enemies: Perhaps he will be trapped, Jeremiah imagines them saying, then we can prevail! Jeremiah’s community has no concept of an afterlife, and so Jeremiah believes that any vindication he might see – in the form of verification of his prophecies – needs to happen in his lifetime. Ultimately, however, Jeremiah has confidence in God’s love: to you I have entrusted my cause. Jeremiah has much in common with the author of Psalm 69, who has become an outcast to his brothers, a stranger to his mother’s children. Yet, like Jeremiah, the psalmist knows that he must not change his message simply because he feels threatened. Instead, he will trust in the Lord’s help, for bounteous is God’s kindness and mercy. 

    When, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the Twelve, his principal request is that they fear no one. Fear makes us defensive, and if the disciples are defensive, then Jesus will not be able to be present to the communities the disciples are hoping to reach. Rather than fear, therefore, the disciples must remain confident that Jesus is with them, present to them at all times, that they might go and love and heal their world. They have entered into relationship with Jesus, and consequently they know salvation. To deny him before others would be to deny their own identity. Clearly, Jesus has every confidence that his Twelve will remain faithful, and thus be effective in their ministry. 

    Paul will remind the Romans that the vindication of all mankind comes from the one God has sent, for the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflows for the many. When Adam and Eve chose control over relationship, sin entered the world, but Jesus’ unselfish, generous gift is not like the selfish transgressions of Adam and Eve. Indeed, God’s response to transgression is a generous and absolute love. We know salvation because we know Christ. So long as we remain in him, we too can trust in the bounteous kindness of the Lord, entrusting our salvation to his infinite mercy. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 21, 2020: Lord, in your great love, answer me...

Lord, in your great love, answer me…

How do our struggles prepare us to turn in love to God?

  The prophet Jeremiah’s experience is painful.  Rejected by the community he loves because he proclaims a message no one wants to hear, Jeremiah is set upon, struck, even thrown in stocks by the temple priest.  Even his friends are on the watch for any misstep he might make.  But Jeremiah does not lose hope in God who will ultimately vindicate him:  the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion, Jeremiah says.  it is to the Lord that Jeremiah has entrusted his cause.  Jeremiah’s plight is echoed in Psalm 69, where the psalmist acknowledges that he bears insult for the Lord’s sake; he has even become an outcast to his brothers, a stranger to his children.  But, like Jeremiah, the psalmist counts on the Lord’s redemption:  the Lord hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not. 

  When, in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus prepares the Twelve to go forth, he recognizes that they too will meet opposition.  However, his counsel to them is, Fear no one!  No one can destroy both soul and body except the God who brought them into existence; if God is conscious of the life of a mere sparrow – not one falls to the ground without the Father’s knowledge – then how much more does God cherish every moment of suffering faced by God’s faithful?  The Twelve are to proclaim all that Jesus has whispered to them, aware that God’s love for them is more powerful than anything.  They may thus face any hardship, even death, knowing life is on the other side, in eternal redemption. 

  Sometimes our opposition comes from within.  In his Letter to the Romans, Paul assures that community that the grace of God is more than we can possibly measure:  the gift is not like the transgression. Sin is our inability to open ourselves to God, to allow God to enter in, but God’s grace is greater than sin, though sometimes our struggles are themselves a vehicle of grace.  God calls us to life without end, to love without limits; we, for our part, are to trust in all humility in God’s grace, knowing, like Jeremiah, like the psalmist, like the Twelve, that, as fragile and incomplete human beings, we need God’s grace and great love at every moment of our lives.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com