THE GOSPEL OF THE COMING KINGDOM THROUGHOUT THE GOSPELS, WE FIND ANOTHER IMPORTANT THEME WHICH IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE GOOD NEWS JESUS CAME TO BRING. CENTRAL TO HIS PREACHING WAS JESUS PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. BY THE KINGDOM HE MEANT THE REIGN OF GOD OVER ALL CREATION AND OVER EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN LIFE: GODS REIGN OVER SIN BY HIS FORGIVENESS AND GRACE, OVER SUFFERING BY HEALING, OVER SLAVERY BY LIBERATION, AND OVER BY DEATH BY EVERLASTING LIFE. WHEREVER JESUS, THE RIGHTFUL KING, IS PRESENT GODS KINGDOM BEGINS TO DAWN. THAT IS WHY JESUS OPENED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY WITH THE WORDS: The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (MK 1:15). THE FACT THAT HE CAST OUT DEMONS WAS ALREADY A SIGN THAT GOD WAS BEGINNING TO LIBERATE PEOPLE FROM SATANS TYRANNICAL HOLD ON HUMAN LIFE: If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (LK 11:20). OF COURSE, JESUS WAS WELL AWARE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAD NOT YET COME TO EARTH IN ITS FULLNESS DURING THE TIME OF HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY. HE PROMISED THAT IT WOULD GROW LIKE A TINY MUSTARD SEED INTO A GREAT TREE (MT 13:31-32), AND GRADUALLY LEAVEN THE WORLD AS YEAST LEAVENS A NEW LOAF OF BREAD (MT 13:33) - AND ALL THIS WOULD BE A FREE GIFT OF GODS GRACE AND MERCIFUL LOVE. Fear not, little flock, HE SAID, for it your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom (LK 12:32), AND HE TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY WITH HOPE AND EXPECTATION: Father..thy kingdom come (LK 11:2). MOREOVER, JESUS KNEW IT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN JUST GRADUAL GROWTH AND leavening FOR GODS KINGDOM TO COME TO THE WORLD IN ALL ITS FULLNESS. ON THE ROAD TO GODS FINAL VICTORY OVER THE FORCES OF EVIL, THERE WOULD BE CATACLYSMIC EVENTS, JESUS PREDICTED: • EARTHQUAKES • PLAGUES • WARS • FAMINES • THE FALL OF THE GREAT TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM • AND THE WORLDWIDE PERSECUTION OF HIS FOLLOWERS GODS ULTIMATE TRIUMPH, HOWEVER, WAS ASSURED, AND JESUS PROMISED THAT ONE DAY HE WOULD RETURN TO EARTH WITH ALL THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN TO BRING THE KINGDOM TO ITS CONSUMMATION: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (MT 24:29-31). FOR THOSE WHO ARE CRUEL AND IMPENITENT TO THE END, THEY HAVE ONLY THE JUSTICE AND WRATH OF GOD TO LOOK FORWARD TO, BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE FAITHFUL, THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS IS THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF HIS MERCY: Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (LK 21:28). WHILE THE MESSAGE OF GODS MERCIFUL LOVE PERMEATES ST. LUKES GOSPEL, THERE IS ONE SECTION OF THE BOOK THAT IS GENERALLY KNOWN AS THE PARABLES OF MERCY, A CLUSTER OF PARABLES IN CHAPTER 15 UNIQUE TO THIS GOSPEL THAT CENTERS UPON THE THEME OF DIVINE MERCY: • THE LOST SHEEP • THE LOST COIN • THE PRODIGAL SON IN ALL THESE THREE PARABLES, WHAT IS LOST IS THE SINNER, BECAUSE OF HIS SINS, AND THE ONE WHO FINDS HIM IS THE MERCIFUL SAVIOR-GOD. THESE THREE PARABLES, THEREFORE, FOCUS ON ONE PARTICULAR FORM OF GODS MERCY, NAMELY, HIS MERCY THAT MEETS OUR NEEDS FOR FORGIVENESS AND MORAL RENEWAL. LET US LOOK AT TWO THEMES THAT ARE COMMON TO ALL THREE PARABLES. • FIRST, IN EACH ONE, JESUS EMPHASIZES THAT HE NOT ONLY WELCOMES THE PENITENT SINNER BACK - HE ACTIVELY GOES OUT AND SEEKS THE SINNER UNTIL HE FINDS HIM. GOD IS THE HOUND OF HEAVEN, SO TO SPEAK. THIS COMES OUT MOST CLEARLY IN THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost oned until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (LK 15:4-7). COMMENTING UPON THE PARABLES IN LUKE 15, THE GREAT JEWISH SCHOLAR C.G. MONTEFIORE HELD STRONGLY THAT THESE PARABLES EMPHASIZE THE ONE ABSOLUTELY NEW THING THAT JESUS CAME TO SAY: The idea of a God will invite the sinner back is not new; the idea of a God who will welcome the sinner back is not new; but the idea of a God who will go and seek for the sinner, and who wants men to do the same, is something completely new. MONTEFIORE WOULD THEREFORE FIND THE VERY CENTER AND SOUL OF THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL IN LUKE 15:1-10, IN THE STORY OF THE SHEPHERD SEARCHING FOR THE LOST SHEEP, AND THE WOMAN SEARCHING FOR THE LOST COIN (See Rick Torretto, St. Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy, ed., Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel, Marian Press, 1999). WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT DOES NOT SUBSTANTIALLY ALTER THE OLD TESTAMENT DEFINITION OF DIVINE MERCY, BUT IT DOES SHOW US JUST HOW DEEP AND ALL-ENCOMPASSING GODS MERCIFUL LOVE FOR US REALLY IS. THE PARABLES OF MERCY IN ST. LUKES GOSPEL REFLECT THIS APPRECIATION FOR THE DEPTH OF GODS MERCY SHOWN IN THE INCARNATION AND THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH CHRIST. AS JOHN WROTE IN HIS FIRST EPISTLE : In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us (1JN 4:9-12). IN OTHER WORDS, GOD IS NOT JUST SITTING PATIENTLY IN HEAVEN, WAITING FOR PENITENT SINNERS TO COME HOME TO HIM. RATHER, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO SEEK US OUT AND FIND US, LIKE A SHEPHERD SEEKING HIS LOST SHEEP, OR LIKE THE FATHER OF A PRODIGAL SON WHO RUNS DOWN THE ROAD TO MEET HIS LOST SON AT THE FIRST SIGN OF HIS APPEARING. WE FIND THE SAME THEME ECHOED BEAUTIFULLY IN THE WRITINGS OF ST. MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA (1905-1938). SHE HEARD JESUS TEACH HER THIS SAME BASIC GOSPEL MESSAGE: My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of Mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain (DIARY, 1485). • A SECOND THEME COMMON TO ALL THE THREE PARABLES OF MERCY IN LUKE, CHAPTER 15, IS THE GREAT JOY OUR LORD MANIFESTS WHENEVER HE IS ABLE TO RESCUE LOST SINNERS AND BRING THEM HOME TO HIS HEART: • LUKE 15:5 And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy. • LUKE 15:6 And, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. • LUKE 15:9 And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ • LUKE 15:32 But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’” SO GOD IN CHRIST rejoices AND IS filled with joy WHENEVER HE FINDS HIS LOST SHEEP! THIS IMPLIES AN INTIMACY BETWEEN OUR SAVIOR-GOD AND HIS CREATURES, AN INTIMACY OF WHICH MERE HINTS ARE GIVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. IT ALSO IMPLIES A DEPTH OF COMMITMENT IN GOD TO THE GOOD OF HUMAN BEINGS. IN A WAY SIMILAR TO ST. LUKES USE OF THE PHRASE splagchna eleous (tender mercy), WE SEE HOW COMPLETELY GOD IS COMMITTED TO CARE FOR US, A DEPTH OF CARING LOVE THAT SPRINGS FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF WHO HE IS. A SIMILAR TRUTH IS ECHOED IN THE WRITINGS OF ST. FAUSTINA. JESUS SAID TO HER: With my mercy, I pursue sinners along all their paths, and My Heart rejoices when they return to Me. I forget all the bitterness with which they fed My Heart and rejoice in their return. ... What joy fills My Heart when you return to Me. Because you are weak, I take you in My arms and carry you to the home of My Father (DIARY, 1728 and 1486). DIVINE MERCY IS FOR EVERYONE THE THING THAT MAKE ST. LUKES GOSPEL THE GOSPEL OF MERCY IS ITS SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE UNIVERSAL SCOPE OF DIVINE MERCY: GOD INTENDS TO EMBRACE ALL PEOPLE WITH HIS MERCY, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN THIS THEME IN THE CANTICLES IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE GOSPEL, ESPECIALLY IN THE Benedictus OF ZECHARIAH, WHERE HE SINGS A HYMN OF PRAISE TO THE LORD WHO GIVES light to those who dwell in darkness, and the shadow of death - that is, to the Gentiles. WE FIND THE SAME THEME IN THE Nunc Dimittis OF OLD SIMEON IM CHAPTER TWO. SIMEON SPEAKS OF CHRIST AS A LIGHT FOR EVERYONE: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared before the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel. THE UNIVERSALITY OF DIVINE MERCY IS A RECURRENT THEME IN ST. LUKES GOSPEL. IN CHAPTER THREE, FOR EXAMPLE, HE QUOTES ISAIAH 40:3-5 AS A PROPHECY ABOUT THE COMING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (the voice of one crying in the wilderness), BUT UNLIKE ST. MATTHEW (who quotes the same prophecy), LUKE QUOTES ITS FINAL LINE: And all flesh [that is, all humanity] shall see the salvation of God. SAINT LUKE ALSO TRACES THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS IN CHAPTER THREE NOT JUST BACK TO ABRAHAM - the Father of the Jewish nation according to the Bible - AS ST. MATTHEW HAD DONE, BUT ALL THE WAY BACK TO ADAM, the father of all mankind. LUKE ENDS HIS GENEALOGY WITH THE WORDS, the son of Adam, the son of God, THEREBY IDENTIFYING GOD AS ADAMS FATHER. IN SHORT, LUKE SEEMS TO BE SAYING THAT ALL DESCENDANTS OF ADAM ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, AND THIS IS ANOTHER SIGN THAT JESUS SAVING MISSION IS INTENDED TO BE UNIVERSAL IN SCOPE. ANOTHER WAY THAT ST. LUKE EMPHASIZES THIS THEME IS BY INCLUDING IN HIS GOSPEL STORIES OF HOW JESUS REACHED OUT TO ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, OF EVERY GENDER, CLASS, RACE, AND MORAL CHARACTER. IN HIS ESSAY (in St. Luke: The Gospel of Divine Mercy, in Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel, Marian Press, 1999, p. 25), RICK TORRETTO POINTS OUT THAT IF WE CONFINE OURSELVES TO MATERIAL UNIQUE TO ST. LUKES GOSPEL, WE CAN SEE THAT HE DELIBERATELY INCLUDED MANY STORIES ABOUT JESUS THAT STRESS THIS THEME. WE FIND: • THE CURE OF THE SERVANT OF A CENTURION, WHO WAS A MILITARY OFFICER FROM THE DREADED ROMAN ARMY OCCUPYING PALESTINE. • A SON IS RAISED TO LIFE BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY SON OF A WIDOW WHO WOULD BE LEFT DESTITUTE WITHOUT HIM. • A WOMAN OF QUESTIONABLE REPUTATION WHO ANOINTS JESUS. • FEMALE DISCIPLES WHO TRAVEL WITH AND SUPPORTED JESUS IN HIS MINISTRY, WOMEN WERE CONSIDERED SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS IN ANCIENT ISRAEL. • JESUS CURES A DEMONIAC, AT THE VERY LEAST A PSYCHOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED PERSON! • HE TELLS THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN; SAMARITANS WERE CONSIDERED HERETICAL, SECTARIAN HALF-BREEDS. • IN ANOTHER PARABLE, LAZARUS, A HOMELESS, POOR, SICK INDIVIDUAL, IS WELCOMED INTO ABRAHAMS BOSOM IN HEAVEN. • JESUS TOUCHES AND CURES LEPERS: MEDICAL, SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS OUTCASTS. • IN ANOTHER PARABLE, A PHARISEE IS CRITICIZED, WHILE A PUBLICAN (a tax collector and collaborator with the Roman occupation) IS PRAISED FOR HIS FAITH AND HUMILITY - SO, POLITICALLY CORRECT IDEAS ARE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN! • JESUS DINES WITH TAX COLLECTOR ZACCHEUS. • HE EVEN ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR THOSE WHO CRUCIFY HIM. TORRETTO CONCLUDES: • EACH OF THESE PEOPLE IS A COMPLETE OUTSIDER EITHER SOCIALLY OR RELIGIOUSLY. THE KINGDOM OF GOD, DIVINE MERCY, IS FREELY GIVEN TO EACH AS A GIFT. THE ONLY THING THAT STOPS THEM FROM ACCEPTING THE GIFT OF GOD IS THEIR OWN REFUSAL TO REPENT AND SEEK FORGIVENESS. • LEST WE MISS THE POINT, LUKE REITERATES IT IN RECORDING JESUS FINAL COMMISSION TO HIS DISCIPLES - AND THIS MATERIAL IS UNIQUE TO LUKE: JESUS SAID TO THEM: So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem (LK 24:46-47; also see MT 28:18-20). HERE WE SEE A THEME THAT WILL LATER FIND AN ECHO IN THE DIARY OF ST. FAUSTINA. JESUS SAID TO HER: Urge all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My Mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My Mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls - no one have I excluded! (DIARY, 1182). DIVINE MERCY A GUIDE FROM GENESIS TO BENEDICT XVI ROBERT STACKPOLE, STD youtube/playlist?list=PLl6BeUzXcF-ljZK5lLZu_e0WDa9wlKjtW
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:07:45 +0000
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