‘God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ”

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S a verse from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (5,19), sometimes used as the Gospel Acclamation in some Masses. It highlights God’s love and desire for reconciliation with man. Through Christ, God is restoring the world to himself, forgiving sins, and entrusting us with the message of salvation. It’s a powerful reminder of God’s mercy and our role in sharing this message with others.

This truth of our Christian faith should strengthen our belief that our sinfulness, defects and errors should not separate us from God. If anything at all, they should bring us closer to him, assured that God’s mercy will never be lacking.

These two realities about our sinfulness and God’s mercy should always go together. We should always strengthen our conviction about the helpful relationship these two should have with each other in our life.

Whenever we feel the sting of our weaknesses and sinfulness, together with their antecedents and consequences, their causes and effects, let’s never forget to consider also God’s mercy that is always given to us, and, in fact, given to us abundantly.

Let’s strengthen our conviction that Christ has a special attraction to sinners, that he is ever willing to forgive us as long as we show some signs of repentance that he himself, through his grace, will stir in us.

Let’s play the part of Peter who, after denying Christ three times, realized his mistake and wept bitterly in repentance. Christ looked kindly on him and forgave him and even made him the prince of the apostles.

Let’s avoid playing the part of Cain and Judas who, after committing their crimes, ran away instead of going back to God repentant. Of course, in saying this, I am not at all judging that they are in hell. That judgment belongs to God alone.

But we also have to understand that the words addressed by Christ directly to the apostles are also meant for all of us. “As the Father has sent me, so I also send you,” he said. (cfr. Jn 20,21) And this can only mean that we need to impart Christ’s mercy to all, since that would be the ultimate sign of our reconciliation with God.

We obviously need to know what is involved in imparting this divine mercy. Yes, for this purpose we have to study well the doctrine of our faith and morals, now authoritatively taught by the Church magisterium. We need to be generous with our time and effort so that that divine mercy can be readily given to everyone.

This way we can hope to be father, a friend, a judge and a doctor to the others insofar as their spiritual and moral lives are concerned.

More than that, we really should pray so that we can see more directly and reflect in our attitudes, our thoughts, words and deeds the very passion, death and resurrection of Christ which in the end is the very substance of divine mercy.

The ideal situation is that all of us be filled with holy desires to ask for forgiveness, to atone and make reparation for our sins and the sins of others. It’s a mindset that we have to deliberately cultivate, always getting inspiration from the example of Christ himself.

In our daily examination of conscience, for example, let us try to see if we have been doing something concrete in this regard. Are we willing to bear the sins of others, in an effort to reflect Christ’s attitude toward all of us who are all sinners?

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com