There are several verses in Sacred Scripture that cause great fear in the pits of the stomach of many – and today’s Gospel reading seems to frequently top the list. After all, how scary it is to think that you could be laying in bed next to your loved one and then poof – in an instant one of you has been taken off to eternal bliss and the other one is, well, left here to content with the vultures.
Are we then left to believe that those of us who are “less than perfect” will be left alone with the “vultures”? Would God do that??? If so, where does he draw the line? After all, we have all sinned and we all fall short of the glory of God. Since we have all sinned does this mean that we will all be left behind? Or, perhaps, was Jesus giving us a more complex message? I believe the later to be the case. I believe Jesus was offering a message that directs us into love.
Is God a God of Love?
So what’s up? If our God is a God of love (and he is) then how are we to interpret today’s readings? Well, I think it is helpful to look at the setting of today’s Gospel. Looking at Luke 17:20 we see that Jesus is answering a question posed to him by the Pharisees. They wanted to know when the kingdom of God would come. A loaded question! After all, these folks were pretty tied to the Law and they placed a heavy yoke on the people – obey the Law or else suffer the wrath of God. The Law went far beyond the Ten Commandments God gave Moses. It had expanded to over 600 laws! The Pharisees didn’t even keep all these laws themselves. Maybe they were worried that they didn’t measure up? We can never know their thoughts, or their hearts. But Jesus knew.
In Jesus’ very direct way of handling the Pharisees he gave them a rather succinct answer: “and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”– Luke 17:21. I am sure he left them baffled. What could he possibly mean “the kingdom of God is among you?” Well, not only was the Son of God in their very midst, mankind lives in the milieu of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom dwells within his children and we are everywhere.
After this encounter, Jesus turned to his disciples and offered further explanation. He painted a bigger picture for them that offered deeper insight. First, Jesus must suffer and be rejected. This, as we know, we a foretelling of his Passion – THE one event that changed the fabric of the world forever. Jesus took on all of our sins so that we could live. For ever more mankind will receive real freedom through the Son. Then Jesus went on to paint a picture, or rather, a pathway into the kingdom of God.
God Wants All of Us
Our loving Father wants each and every one of us to return home to him and he continually reveals our path to heaven. However, there is no sin in heaven. Zip, nada, zero. Therefore, before we can enter into heaven, and its eternal bliss, we must go through a purification, a refining fire. We can become refined while on earth like our great saints, or we can go through this in Purgatory.
Our Catholic Church teaches that we cannot say for sure that any human being is actually in Hell. Going further, some of our early church fathers (Origen, Evagrius, and others) touched on the possibility that Satan and his fallen angels could somehow become reconciled with God and gain entry into heaven at some point. (I know, it sounded crazy to me when I first read this in their works!).
All we can really know for sure is that our human mind can never know the mind of God. All we can do is surrender our life to him and give him all control. I know this may seem easier said than done; however, surrendering to God is actually the easiest pathway into his kingdom – and least painful in my opinion. Like Jesus says, if we seek to preserve our life we will indeed lose it. The only way we will truly save our life is by surrendering it fully to God.
Job and Suffering
Job did one thing through all of his suffering – he kept his eyes of God. He was surrounded by “vultures.” And I think herein lies the key. We are called to keep our eyes on God and follow the Word Incarnate, his Son Jesus Chris, at all times. Especially when we are surrounded by vultures. God knows it’s hard here on earth. Like Job, we will encounter trials. Life seems to be one trial after another doesn’t it. Yet, with each trial we are presented an opportunity to grow in deeper love for others, for ourselves, and for the world. God allows our trials, even those that bring us to the brink of our wits end, for one reason: to open a path before us that leads to him. He will be there to help us finish the race – he is always there. He will teach us how to love more through forgiveness and mercy.
Like in the days of Noah and Lot, life activities that offer us an opportunity to choose God will arise and refining fire will fall upon us. Life’s refining fires offer opportunities to become free of the weight of our body. We can choose to be like Lot and Noah with our eyes focused on God, l or we can choose the world. And for those vultures… well, I think they bring the fire that God uses for refining us. Jesus will guide us away from the vultures and into the kingdom of God.
The Suscipe Prayer
I love this prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. If you are seeking to surrender your life to God and grow in deeper love for all of his creation I invite you to pray it. It continues to help me on my journey into God’s kingdom. Here is a link: Suscipe Prayer
Global Light For Christ (GLFC)
If you are in need of prayer then I invite you to share your petition below. Our community, GLFC, is a group of sojourners supporting one another through prayer and love.
I want to thank all of you who post here. When I sit with your petitions, often in the Adoration Chapel at my parish, my heart is deeply touched when I feel both your pain and the love we hold for each other. Even though we are separated by space and time we are together in the living waters of God.
God bless all of you. See you next week Friday – Carolyn
If you would like to learn more about my work and my ministry I invite you to visit my website: CarolynBerghuis.com.
God the Father – hold us in your Fatherly love.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – heal us with your divine love.
God the Holy Spirit – immerse us in divine love.
