I know this as a matter of faith after my epiphany;
but when visiting Sister Agatha of Grasmere to meet a new intake of Knights for
Enlightenment I voiced my puzzlement at how this unalterable goal could be
reconciled with our free will. She said it was helpful to picture the flow of
history at all levels from the parochial to the cosmic, from the individual to
the nation to the human race en masse, as a river heading for the ocean.
Diverse patterns and disturbances within the river of life’s events, all
resulting from free decisions to do or not to do God’s will, can then be pictured as swirls, eddies, rapids
and floating debris , moving sometimes
with, sometimes across and sometimes
against the current. These disturbances to
the flow are the causes of suffering –
war, disease, accidents, natural disasters, economic or social collapse. In the
end the heavenly goal is reached. How we react, endure or overcome our
suffering determines the place in the heavenly realm that Jesus Christ is
preparing for us.
Nevertheless, people and groups
of people do have to suffer in their lives. God only rescues us when the course
of events allows this and rescuing us does not totally throw the river off
course and never able to reach the end point. Do we encounter pain and tragedy because of our own
sin? Sometimes, but often it is because of someone else’s, even when the
sinner is geographically far away or no longer alive. Not as
a deliberate punishment by the Lord but because that is the way His reality
works. It is why sin, which starts as a thought, is forbidden by our
loving creator. But Christ’s restorative justice rescues both the sinner and
the sinned against, either in this life or in the eternal realm of limitless
love.
Perhaps that is the meaning of the parable of the
Prodigal Son.
This restorative justice is open to all who empty
themselves of pride so that they can receive God’s love. If someone damages you
because of their greed or malice there is no need to seek retribution or ask God to
punish them. They will either at some point open themselves to redemption (inner change) and receive God’s
love, or they will reject it before physical death and so sentence themselves
to eternity in the company of other unrepentant sinners, which is hell, in a sense by definition. Either way, if
you submit to Christ you also will be immersed in God’s love.
So do not grieve at the sinner’s reward as did the elder brother of the prodigal son when his father rejoiced as the son returned, in humility, to his father after a life of sin. Your reward will also be great, perhaps greater if it is scaled according to our earthly righteousness; but in any case rejoice with God in the sinner's repentance.
So do not grieve at the sinner’s reward as did the elder brother of the prodigal son when his father rejoiced as the son returned, in humility, to his father after a life of sin. Your reward will also be great, perhaps greater if it is scaled according to our earthly righteousness; but in any case rejoice with God in the sinner's repentance.
Click here for The accumulated reflections of Father James
John sears
author of
2077: Knights of Peace.
cosmik.jo@gmail.com
