Readings of the day: Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2; Psalm 9:2-3, 6, 8-9, 16; Luke 11:15-26
If any of you
have ever experienced deep, prolonged, or devastating suffering, today’s first
reading and Gospel reading may have sounded harsh to your ears.
As a deacon
and, God-willing, future priest, I find the Prophet Joel’s message in our first
reading to be especially difficult to preach. In the time of
Joel, Israel experienced crop failures due to locust infestation. It was up to
the “priests [and] ministers of the altar,” to preach a message of repentance
and of divine judgment to Israel’s people in the midst of such devastation.
“The day of the
LORD,” which the people of Joel’s time would have associated with God’s and
their final and decisive victory over suffering, would instead bring more
suffering and devastation if they did not repent: “Alas, the day… and it comes as ruin from the
Almighty!” This message is not likely one Israel’s people wanted to hear.
Jesus’ message
in today’s Gospel reading is no less ominous. After Jesus argues with those in
the crowd who accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Satan, he seems
to indicate that, at least if the healed person is not careful, the evil spirit
of which this person is healed will return with a vengeance. Again, this was
not likely a message some people in the crowd following Jesus would have wanted
to hear.
What, then, are
we to understand from our readings today that seem to portray God as distant
from the people’s suffering; as an angry, harsh judge? We find an answer to
this question, I believe, in today’s Responsorial Psalm, in which we hear that
God “judges the world with justice [and] governs the people with equity.”
Inasmuch as we understand
God‒ correctly‒ to be merciful, and so we may find
some images of a harsh, judging God in today’s readings troublesome to hear, we
must not forget that God is also the ultimate judge. On Sundays, for instance,
we pray in our Creed that Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”
What,
then, does understanding God as judge, and balancing this with our image of God
as merciful, entail for us?
Just
as our Psalm today says that God “judges the
world with justice” and “governs the people with equity,” so we, especially
those in positions of power and leadership among us, are called to act and
judge with justice and equity.
If anyone in our community is in
need of basic necessities‒
food; shelter; medical care (a big issue here lately)‒ we are called to ensure
those needs are met, or at least to build and contribute to social programs
that help to meet those needs. If one is sick, comfort that person. If one sins,
admonish but with clarity, concern, and kindness. If one is living her or his
life of faith well, encourage that person. Pray for the well being of one
another as Church.
These
are all actions of justice. These are all actions in imitation of our God, who
“judges… with justice” and “governs… with equity.”
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