Parish Bulletin
PARISH NEWS
Does God never give up?
Our Exodus reading (Ex 3) touches on God’s consistent faithfulness while Paul in Corinthians (1 Cor 10) reminds us of human failure to be faithful in return, hinting at just consequences for failing to please God. But it is in Luke’s gospel we get a clearer picture of the extent of God’s faithfulness.
In Jesus’ parable of the unproductive fig-tree we sense the frustration of the vineyard owner after an unproductive three years (Luke 13:1-9). We tend to agree with the owner: enough is enough! In justice it seems it is time to chop the tree. But the gardener pleads lenience for another year (and one suspects may do so next year and the next). Justice is all very well but in the fig-tree parable, Jesus gives a glimpse rather of God’s infinite mercy. It is difficult for us in our litigious society to comprehend our big-hearted Creator who waits for us with infinite patience.
Richard Rohr explains, “Infinite love, mercy, and forgiveness are hard for the human mind even to imagine, so most people seem to need a notion of hell to maintain their logic of retribution, just punishment and a just world, as they understand it. God does not need hell, but we sure seem to.”
Though Jesus emphasises the Father’s mercy and Paul never references God giving up on us, somehow, over time, we have de-emphasised mercy and over-emphasised terrible retributive justice descending upon us by a wrathful God. Perhaps it was felt that God’s mercy would be taken as soft on sin and the justice model was intended to scare us into loving God. “Threats of hell are unfortunately more memorable to people than promises of heaven.” Our Creator never gives up on us.
Deacon Mark Kelly
St Joseph’s and St Ita’s Junior Youth Group
We’ve had a couple of fun times already
and our next will be:
5.30pm on Saturday 19th March at
Marian Room, St Joseph’s Church, Warragul.
Info: Olivia 0459790542// Dcn Mark 0427748646
