Mercy...and Wrath

This post is a bit scary, only because it might upset the wrong person or persons.  Full speed ahead!

I read today's reading (Colossians 3: 1-11) in a very different way than the presiding priest, and I am sure than most people.  I feel today we focus too much on love and mercy.  Notice I did not say they are bad things, just that we focus on them too much.  I propose a more well-rounded view of God.  Yes, love and mercy, but also...wait for it...wrath.  Paul says it right there in his letter.  Those who sin face the wrath of God.  Why is that something we are so afraid to talk about now?

My first thought is: we do not want to scare people away from our church.  Tell them what they want to hear.  Preach love and mercy, that way they will keep coming back. 

Admittedly that is a bit pessimistic.  It's even worse if I suggest the main reason why we want them to return is for their money.  That leads me to wonder, what are we really in it for?  Should our first priority not be the salvation of souls?  The only way to save souls is to preach the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, despite the consequences.  If that puts people off, should that not be a wake-up call for them?  After all, the only way to grow is to realize where you have gone wrong and to fix it.

If all we preach is, "God loves you," how long until we become like Joel Osteen and other pseudo-Christian preachers?  "You are great as you are, no need to change!  Now give me your money because I made you feel good."  As today's Gospel says: "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way" (Luke 6: 26).

Jesus never preached "you are perfect."  The authentic Gospel message has always been "we are all sinners, and we need to repent, but God loves us regardless."  Somewhere along the way I feel that too many people forgot the first part and only focus on the second.  I fear it is the same way with readings like today's.  We remember "When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory" and "Christ is all and in all."  We skip over the whole part about "put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.  Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient."  That makes us uncomfortable because then we have to face our own sins.  Let's focus instead on how God loves us!

Some might think, "but Pope Francis is all about mercy and love."  Please do not see this as an attack on the pope.  Yes, he preaches mercy (see the Year of Mercy), but he also preaches repentance.  One of the funniest moments between he and the mainstream media was when they were aghast that he spoke about the devil.  "He actually believes in that?!?!?!  How archaic!"  It's not like that has been the Church's dogma for 2000 years.  Not to mention it's the Truth.  After all, as they say in The Usual Suspects, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist.

This is why it is so important to talk about sin and God's wrath.  We need a return to a more well-rounded view of God.  We need more people to look at Michelangelo's Last Judgment and recognize that we all will be judged. 

Faith alone is no free ticket to heaven.  That way lies heresy.  More people need to think of themselves as Michelangelo did: a sinner unworthy of God's saving graces.

That is how I try to approach the Eucharist.  Perhaps my awareness of my own sinfulness leads me to focus so much on wrath, and pity those who do not.

To those who preach the Gospel I ask this:  Do not be afraid to scare or anger people.  Speak all of the Truth.  Instill a fear of God.  That is what people need.  We need to be reminded that we are sinners, and that God will forgive us if we repent and utilize God's gift of the sacraments.  That way lies the salvation of souls.