In his homily today, the Holy Father elaborated on the Old Testament reading, where Moses is petitioning God to spare the Israelites. He makes the point that during his prayer, it was Moses who was changed for he was able to perceive more clearly the extent of God's mercy on His sinful people. The Holy Father reminded us not to be mindless about our prayer but honest before God.
Where he lost me (and maybe a proper train of thought) is when he told the Mass attendees, "And also scold the Lord a little: ‘Hey, you promised me this, and you haven’t done it …’ Like that, like you talk with a friend.” Scold the Lord? No, I think not! He is the Potter, we are the clay. He is God Almighty, we His humble creatures. To be honest, there is way too much flippancy with too many people as they speak of and to God. Remember the saying "familiarity breeds contempt"? Well, it's quite applicable. We love the Lord and trust His care for us. But we also revere Him as Lord and Sovereign of all creation. It is NOT adorable, it is NOT cute to even dream of scolding the Lord and Creator of all. Again, if this is a lousy translation, I'd love to see the original. Otherwise I again urge His Holiness to cease these "off-the-cuff" remarks. There's nothing at all wrong with preparing one's homily beforehand and carefully scrubbing it to ensure that any opportunities for misconstruing it are minimized as much as possible.
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I agree, Janet. When I had cancer at 39 (with a three year old) I was angry at God. On a family retreat I mentioned it to the elderly nun who ran the facility (and rode around on the tractor cutting grass). "Oh don't be angry with God, dear, she gently admonished." She was right. Sin is the cause of all illness and unhappiness (not necessarily personal sin) so God certainly wasn't to blame for my troubles. Now, 25+ years later, I try to embrace the challenges God allows in my life realizing they are, in some way for my good even when I can't see it. And, of course, they give me something to offer up for others and for the atonement of my own sins. Mother Angelica often said that suffering here is a lot easier than suffering in Purgatory.
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