Rarely do we have a reading from the second book of Chronicles which is used for today's first reading. It includes a description of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the people being captured and taken to Babylon and then the restoration of Jerusalem under

Cyrus, the new king of Persia.

 

We find that the people were sinners and committed infidelity by practicing abominations of the surrounding nations. We are reminded that the Lord had compassion on the people and sent many messengers to the people to warn them but they were mocked and ignored so

often that God's anger was raised and some were killed and the rest carried off to become captives and servants of the king of the Chaldeans.

 

Both the first and second readings remind us that even as we are sinful, even though we make mistakes and fall short, God loves us. How can we help each other know this fundamental truth: that we are fundamentally good, are fully capable of doing better, and are ultimately found worthy of God's love?

 

Something you might identify with God's chosen people, is a pattern of rebellion, repentance, and restoration-or--sin, sorrow, and salvation

which is like hell, purgatory, and heaven. In our relationship with God.

We change, but God remains the same. When we hate God, God does not hate us, only our sins. He always hates our sins and always loves us. I think our own mother and father

look at us that way too. They always love us.

 

God's mercy is as eternal and unchangeable as his justice. When we sin we must be punished. It is important that we learn from what we suffer and sometimes people do not learn. When I was 21 or maybe 22 I remember having too much to drink and I felt terrible the next day.

I did not want that to happen again and it only happened once since. Some people turn to other drugs than alcohol to attempt to be in control of whatever pain they are suffering and then find themselves addicted to something that leads them to have delusions and psychosis in which they imagine somebody is out to get them. We are concerned about drug cartels in other countries who ship fentanyl and cocaine and other drugs to our country but they wouldn't do it if there was no market for them. Some people are looking for some kind of high - some experience of pleasure only to find they become addicted and lose their freedom.

I want the high that comes from having a relationship of prayer with God that reminds me that I am loved and in which I look forward to the happiness to come but also the happiness and peace I have from doing good on earth.

 

Peter Kreeft writes that "when we sin, we must be punished, and that's because of God's mercy, not just because of his justice. The Babylonian captivity of the Jews was God's mercy to them. It was their purgatory. Yes, it hurt; it was a suffering, as our purgatory is too, both in its

beginnings in this life and in its completion in the next life. But it's needed, and it's necessary, and it's love. From the standpoint of justice, it is punishment, but from the standpoint of mercy and love, it is purifying and perfecting and blessing.”

 

"Most of us will probably need some purgatorial purifying before we can enter heaven and enjoy it; we are not saintly enough to go to heaven directly, nor are we hopelessly rebellious and unrepentant enough to go to hell."

 

"If you do not love what God is, which is love and truth; if you hate what God is, which is love and truth; then you cannot go to heaven because you would not enjoy heaven, because heaven is full of what God is: love and truth."

 

"Some think hell does not really exist. They are certainly wrong. Hell really exists; Jesus repeatedly says so. .. But it exists not because God is hate rather than love - it exists only because some of us are hate rather than love."

On one occasion, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" 

As usual Jesus does not give a clear answer but he does say "Strive to enter through the narrow door". (Luke 13:23-24)