Love unfair!

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." (From today’s Gospel reading, Jn. 3:14-21).

Let us look forward to Last Judgement Day.

"The souls of the faithful are gathered at the gate of heaven, eager to march in, sure of their reserved seats at the King’s banquet, keyed up and bursting with impatience to receive the salvation they have earned. But a rumor starts to spread: ‘It looks like He’s going to forgive those others, too!’ For a minute, everyone is dumbfounded. They look at one another in disbelief, gasping and sputtering:

‘After all I went through to get here!’

‘If only I’d known this…’

‘I can’t believe God would do this to us!’

Outraged, the righteous demand an explanation from God. They start cursing God for such unfairness. And at that moment, they are damned. For that was the final judgement. They judged themselves, excommunicated themselves from God’s dwelling place.

Love appeared in their midst, and they refused to acknowledge it. ‘We don’t approve of a heaven that’s open to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.’ ‘We can’t love a God who loves so foolishly!’ And because they didn’t love Love, they didn’t recognize God. And paradise was lost to them." (From L. Evely, That Man is You).

This leads us back to two, unforgettable parables of Jesus: that of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt. 20:1-16), and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32).

Very early in the morning, a landowner hired laborers to work the whole day in his vineyard for a fixed wage, which was just and fair. But at other times during the day, he saw other jobless workers who needed to earn their keep. He hired them, too, and at the end of the day, generously gave all of them the same day’s wage that he knew they all needed. "How unfair," grumbled the ones who were first hired early that morning. And the landowner answered: "Did I cheat because I am generous?"

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is even more poignant, and hits at the heart of the matter, as well as one’s own heart. We all know the story, and I need not repeat it here. But the complaint of the elder brother and the father’s compassionate answer are worth repeating:

"Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughtered the fattened calf." And the father said to him: "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come back to life again; he was lost and has been found." (vv. 29-32).

God our Father is the epitome of boundless, unconditional love, as embodied in the boundless, unconditional love of His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, and to be embodied in us, His followers and disciples. This is our one and only mission in life, both in our own families, and in our bigger family as a nation. Without a loving commitment to this mission, our life is meaningless in God’s eyes. We excommunicate ourselves from the Kingdom of God.

This is our one and only mission as the family of God, individually and as a nation. Once again, through today’s liturgical readings, we are called to forgive one another, let go of the past, and reach out to one another beyond the boundaries of legalisms and never-ending, partisan loyalties, for the sake of the common good. This is a repeated divine call to our divided political and socio-economic leaders. We must establish the truth, for the truth will set us free. From there, we must unite as God’s people in His love, as we saw in those two stories quoted above.

The administration, opposition, Leftist and Rightist groups cannot remain as enemies and expect God’s will to be done. If we follow the Christ of love, mercy and forgiveness all the way, our nation will experience the kingdom of God on earth.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

Through Christ. Through Justice. Through forgiveness. Through love unfair!