As the days of emptiness surround many, so the Realism of Christ becomes our hope!

As the days of emptiness surround many, so the Realism of Christ in us becomes our hope!

Look at what each of us had to endure in the past, and allow it to vanish as if it no longer matters.  There is the cliche that tells us those who forget history are doomed to repeat it again.  Words of Winston Churchill.  Sometimes removing the evil content from our past helps us to move on with life.  But then, there are significant results that can remind us of wrong choices and set up a rampart to keep those instances from repeating themselves over and over.

Our attention should take us back to David and his regret of mistakes that went further than remorse.  Upon reflecting on adultery with Bathsheba and the murdering of Uriah, her husband. Without reflecting on these two serious failures we wouldn’t have Psalm 51 that is a script that teaches to remind us of our failures that could have brought us down and away from Christ’s love.  

Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.  Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.  (Ps 51: 3 - 4).  One thing we all need is to have a prophet as David did:  Nathan for us may be an invisible urging from the Holy Spirit that even while we are complicit within sin he is always nudging us to not fail to repent and seek the mercy of God.  

As mentioned before, committing a sin then asking for mercy is not taking advantage of God’s forgiveness.  Is there anyone among human beings that will not repeat a sin even after being forgiven?  It seems that the human intellect finds one sin that haunts them and they adopt its hold on us that we just can't let go,

This becomes the same enemy that is sin to attach itself within our human weakness; constant falling away from God and his love.  That love is pure mercy that God never pulls back regardless of our sinfulness.  It has become a paradox that without sin, as sung in the Exultet, Jesus would not have had a reason to absorb humanity in order to bring God’s forgiveness to us.  As written before, the Incarnation is the total extent of the mercy God had already prepared before we were born.  Take the words from Jeremiah;  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”  (Jer 1: 5).  Take these words from the Lord to heart!  These are also meant for you and I.  Anyone who expounds on God and his mercy has become a prophet, from the pulpit to the classroom.  

Even the house wife or fathers are called in some way to preach the word of God.  St. Francis of Assisi said; preach the word of God and if necessary speak it as well.  So when we, who are telling people the very depth of God’s mercy, do not let our own sins get in the way;  God knew before he formed us in the womb we would, through weakness, fall seven times.  But as Proverbs states; “For the just man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble to ruin.”  (Prv 24: 16).

Do not sin so as to receive God’s mercy.  However, do not sin without seeking his forgiveness.

Ralph B. Hathaway