Tag: God’s mercy and justice

• Isaiah 26:8-12: The Duality of Justice

  
  

  Isaiah 26:8-12: The Duality of Justice

  Thursday, May 15, 2025

  Like the Old Testament psalmists, we ask God to avenge the wrongs done to us. Like the New Testament followers of Christ, we ask God to forgive our enemies who know not what they do. This dichotomy of justice reflects God’s merciful nature. It is, at the same time, a challenge we hope to meet.

  On the cross that serves as the mechanism of his human death, Jesus requests that God the Creator forgive those who kill him, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:24)

  In his ghastly death by stoning, Stephen uses a last breath to intercede for his attackers saying, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. (Acts 7:60)

  These are challenging actions to imitate; this state of mind asks of us an incredibly high level of persistence, patience and fidelity to God’s ways. We doubt that we can rise to this demanding witness to God’s great love, and so we ask. How do we bridge the gap between God’s way and our own?

  

  When doubt rises within, we rely on the gift of faith planted in us at our inception. When we relax into God’s plan, this gift flourishes in such a way that we receive much more than we give.

  When desperation erodes the sense of peace and good will we have nurtured, we trust the gift of hope in God’s promises to us. When we rest in the memories of God’s power to move in our lives, anxiety crumbles, worry dissolves.

  When our circumstances point to all that is wrong with the world, we act in the gift of God’s love as demonstrated in the many small miracles that shower our lives like the gentle rain after a dry season. When we put aside our desire for revenge, our anger subsides. When we determine to address our enemies with mercy, our hope for destruction of those who oppose us ebbs away. When we make the decision to meet our enemies with prudent love and faith-filled awe of the Lord, we find that we are suddenly open to the possibility that the duality we see in God’s justice will bring about the transformation of the world.

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  To learn more about Saint Stephen, click on the image above or visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen

  Images from:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen

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  May 15, 2025

  Acts 7:60, faith-hope-love, God’s love, God’s mercy and justice, God’s promises, Luke 23:24, miracles, Saint Stephen

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• Lamentations 2:19-22: Rising Up

  
  

  Lamentations 2:19-22: Rising Up

  Sunday, June 2, 2024

  The Book of Lamentations is dark and moody, full of wrath and anger. The coming of Christ is the only antidote against such deep grief. Our own petition for goodness and wholeness brings us into union with this Messiah, Christ. Each day, each night we have the choice before us. We can either try to solve the problems that confront us on our own, or we can Rise up, shrill in the night to beat against heaven’s gate, asking God for mercy and justice for ourselves, for our loved ones, for our enemies.  This is what best combats the ugliness we read about today.

  In order that we not consumed by this ugly anger that would compel us into further depths, we might look at the opposite of rage-filled thinking. We take on a thinking that rejects rumor, derision, the stirring up of hate and falsehood.  Psalm 101:1-7 is part of the Morning Prayer in MAGNIFICAT today. The citation before the prayer follows: Every day offers a choice: what sort of reading, what sort of TV, what sort of conversation, what sort of friends will we choose to welcome into our home? And so we sing with the psalmist: My song is about loyalty and justice, and I sing it to you, O Lord.

  Another citation from the Morning Prayer is Philippians 4:8: Whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

  We know the world is made of diverse creatures and creations that bring us sorrow and joy, diverse conditions that create havoc and love.  In order to dispel the dark clouds of today’s lamentation, we might continue.

  Whatever is evil, whatever is deceitful, whatever is lie . . . rise up, shrill in the night against the darkness.

  Whatever is good, whatever is holy, whatever unites and calls home . . . rise up grateful, in praise of the light.

  Whatever is Christ, whatever is spirit, whatever is life-giving . . . rise up joyful, singing with expectation of God’s mercy and justice.    

  In all circumstances, dark or light, rise up singing with the Lord. 

  My song is about loyalty and justice, and I sing it to you, O Lord.

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  Images from: http://thejoysofbeingcatholic.blogspot.com/2016_07_20_archive.html

  Adapted from a Favorite written on February 24, 2009.

  Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Mini-Reflection.” MAGNIFICAT. 24 February 2009. Print.

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  June 2, 2024

  anger, dark versus light, God’s love, God’s mercy and justice, Philippians 4:8, Psalm 101:1-7

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• Romans 9: Children of the Promise

  
  

  Romans 9: Children of the Promise 

  Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

  In this chapter of Romans, Paul puzzles over the lack of faith in the Christ story among the Jewish people.  They are clearly chosen by God to convey the message of freedom and salvation to the world and in fact, one of their own is the Messiah; yet they reject the message of hope and promise that Jesus offers. This is also the message that Paul proclaims anew.

  In the previous chapter (Romans 8), Paul reminds us that faith is the belief in things not seen; hope is the exercise of expecting something that is greater and better than we think likely (8:24-25).  He reminds all of us that the Holy Spirit is at work in and among us, and that we must be open to God’s plan rather than forwarding our own.  Now he puzzles over the lack of expectation and fidelity in those who have had the advantage of the special status; he finds it strange that the very people and tradition that have engendered the message now turn against it.

  Do we see this same contradiction in our own age? Do we see it in ourselves? If not, we might be content to muddle forward as always. If so, we have a clear choice before us. Do we blame God for the failings and lacks in society? Or do we examine ourselves, and then rely on God as we take action?

  Paul answers some of his, and our, questions in verses 14 to 16: What then are we to say?  Is there injustice on the part of God?  Of course not . . . it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy. 

  We are part of God’s great design and are called to take part in the redemption of the world.

  Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all . . . So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God’s mercy. (GNT)

  We are God’s precious children, and are asked to demonstrate the same mercy that God shows us.

  What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! . . .  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. (NASB)

  We are the receivers of God’s great promise. Let us accept this gift graciously, and act with God’s justice for all.

  Tomorrow, more of Paul’s thinking. How does it affect all that we do?

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  Adapted from a reflection written on June 3, 2010.

  Image from: https://dailydosesofgodsword.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/holding-on-to-gods-promises-by-natalie-williams/

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  March 31, 2024

  faith, God’s mercy and justice, God’s plan, hope

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