Many souls are lost; God searches for them

There are many lost souls; do we find ourselves among them?

The words of Jesus when he taught about false prophets and false disciples; “Then I will declare to them solemnly, I never knew you.  Depart from me, you evildoers.”  (Mt. 7: 23).  Sounds harsh coming from the Lord of forgiveness, however this part of scripture follows the Sermon on the Mount where reaching out has power in the very essence of God’s reason for the Incarnation.   If one listens to the words Jesus presents within this narrative you will see how directly he reaches out to his listeners countering the beliefs of those who didn’t go far enough with the understanding of God’s Will.  They thought as long as their adherence to the law was superficial the depth of what they did didn’t matter as long as the law was followed to a T.  

We have come to differentiate between the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law.  This became the very hurdle Jesus tried to interject in his listeners’ minds, but the attention of too many people gets stuck on the letter and not the spirit in far too many issues in life.  “As long as we adhere to what is written, our choice is the way to go.”  The thoughts of so many that reasoning is not possible any more.  

Within the church teaching there are countless questions that will always pop up and not enough catechesis has been expounded on, leaving many in the dark, to follow the most attractive carrot waved before their eyes.

As Jesus said while expiating the very depth of adultery and murder, these are the ones who do not look into the hearts and minds of those that do stop short of actual sin.  They follow a prescribed rule avoiding what they believe is not sinful, yet are in a realm of commiting sin as well.  

When this type of scenario stands before us allowing us to think we may fantasize all we want and go our way requires another look especially if our thought process continues with fantasy.  Of course, the message to the Scribes and Pharisees was a reminder of how weak each of us is, and the path to sanctity is more than a simple retreat from an act of murder or sexual promiscuity.

Those who judged in a scrupulous manner of what their subjects were found doing failed to see their own thoughts were just as guilty of sin.  However, when these mind-blowing activities enter the minds of those who are found just as guilty of those they accuse, they need to seek the same forgiveness as the ones who openly perform disastrous actions.  

God has forgiven our dissension from grace if only we will admit our need and turn back accepting his unending mercy.  Read the Psalm where David exposed his need for this mercy of a forgiving God.  After Nathan the prophet confronted David for his sins of adultery and murder I wonder how often he said, mea culpa; “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”  (Psalm 51). A  manta we can all recite.  

Ralph B. Hathaway,  August 19, 2022