Come to God when the offer is on.
Each one of us is a tree God is about to desert, but He gives us one more chance. Today the Lord is begging the Father for us. Let us see His determination and fight for our souls, individually. Christ believes in our conversion. He trusts in us, hence He cries out for each one of us: ‘Leave the fig tree one more year’. God is to dig round our souls and manure them: by healing them from wounds of lacking faith in His love, by calling us to conversion, by explaining everything about the meaning of life, by coming to our souls in sacraments and in the poor, by dwelling in us and speaking through the Gospel, through others, in daily events, in suffering.
In Christ’s begging we find the exact range of God’s Mercy. God’s Mercy, although it is infinite, for each one of us has its measure. God, who gives us generous opportunities, does not give us infinite opportunities. If during this year nothing happen to us, if we do not produce any fruit of conversion, God will execute his decision of cutting the tree down. Remember, if we reject our chance of conversion, if we choose to live a sinful life, God may leave us within the range of our decisions. As it will be our choice, God’s grace may abandon us.
Actually, we need to face a fear of the possibility of being cut off, a fear of hell. This fear keeps us safe against illusory life. It is also a good medicine for our souls. It motivates us not to enter into sinful areas, and as we know some of them have sweet notions of attraction. Unfortunately, many think they have outgrown the reality of damnation. For that reason they end up into a trap of satanic pride and they are lead astray.
Hence, now, during this Lent, there is the favourable time for us. Come to God when the offer is on! Now is the day of salvation! Do not think you have time as tomorrow may never happen. If you think you have no ability to change it now (to choose the primacy of God in your life and have good confession, to cut off your attachments to sins; to cross out in you tendencies of self-seeking, etc), on which account do you build your confidence that later on your ability will increase?
Fr Stan
Categories: Reflections