26 July 2026 #themercyandjusticescale
I find there is much juxtaposition, irony, and paradox in the readings during ordinary time. Two weeks ago Jesus said that we don’t want conversion in our hearts because we like to wallow in our messiness. Last week Jesus talked about those messy weeds in our lives and how the angels would sift the weeds-from-the-wheat when it matters most. And this week the angels are at it again, separating the wicked from the righteous, throwing them in the fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Whew.
It’s our two back-to-back responsorial psalms that has my attention though. Last week: “Lord, you are good and forgiving.” And this week: “Lord, I love your commands.” So… the Lord is good and forgiving but also justifiably angry when we ignore/break his commandments? Yes. And sometimes I do not know what to make of all that.
Theologically speaking, it’s fairly straightforward. For those of us who give our lives to the Lord but occasionally stumble and fall, we have redemption (aka: confession). We still have messy lives but are trying to do the right thing. The angels will set us in the “keep” basket. For those of us who worship the gods of greed, lust, and pride and all that falls in between, well… turn off the air conditioner because we’re going to need to get used to the oppressive heat. Black-and-white. Cut-and-dry.
In life-lived, things seem a bit more grey-scale and blurry. There are some great souls who do great things for God’s creatures… but intentionally fail to honor the life of the unborn, the dignified-death of the elderly, the natural-law of marriage, or even keeping the Sabbath holy. “Intentionally” being the key word here. They know the teachings of the Church and the why behind them but choose to make their personal beliefs their creed of action. And there are those who choose to live in ignorance. And those who are oblivious through no fault of their own.
I read an article about salvation and the Catholic church that has given me pause. The author took up the salvation flag in the black-and-white, pre-Martin-Luther, mediaeval manner: Unless you are inside the sacramental life and rubrics of the Catholic church, heaven is not open to you. That is what the early Church Fathers taught so that is what we should believe. Therefore, evangelization should be at the top of a parish’s to-do list as we are quite literally saving souls from eternal damnation.
Which brings me right back to paradox and wailing-and-grinding-of-teeth. Look, in an ideal world, a soul is conceived and a child baptized shortly after birth. She’s raised in the fullness of faith by a mom and a dad who embody Catholicism in thought, word, and deed. She’s educated in a system that sees the world through the lens of that faith; she grows in wisdom and believes Truth. She befriends a Catholic boy, they fall in love, celebrate the sacrament of marriage, and live a life resplendent with ups-and-downs. A soul is conceived… and the cycle begins anew.
Few of us get to live that ideal life. And here’s what’s kept me back-spacing and working on this column for over a month now: At what point are we culpable for what we did not know, or wrongly instructed, or reject what we were taught? Will the Lord forgive us our trespasses - or allow the angels to sift us into eternity without mercy? For Jesus makes it very clear that Hell is very real. And populated. #themercyandjusticescale