A Homily for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

+ Facing the reality of ourselves is not easy. Behind the façade we present to the world, and even to family and close friends, there is much of which we are not proud and much that we would never wish to see the light of day. We are frail, weak and feeble. At times we choose what is wrong and willfully sin. There are aspects of our behaviour at times that we do not feel that we can control. And we are quite content to keep all of this well and truly hidden.

Yet Almighty God sees all. We may put up a pretence before all manner of people, but God, who created us and who knows us even better than we ourselves, cannot be fooled. He sees all and he knows all.

This is the foundation of the classical teaching on “the fear of God”, which is not supposed to become paranoia or despair, but an ever-present awareness of the loving attention of God the Father. St Benedict teaches his monks that: “a man [should] keep the fear of God before his eyes, altogether shunning forgetfulness. Let him ever remember all the commandments of God and how hell will burn for their sins those that despise him; and let him constantly turn over in his heart the eternal life which is prepared for those that fear him. And guarding himself always from sins and vices, whether of thought, word, hand, foot or self-will, and checking also the desires of the flesh, let him consider that God is always beholding him from heaven, that his actions are everywhere visible to the eye of the Godhead, and are constantly being reported to God by the angels.” (Rule, ch. 7)

Such an exhortation could lead one to become anxious or even obsessively fearful: there is no escape from the eye of God! And yet, let us consider this a little more closely. Yes, if we freely and knowingly reject God or God’s law in a serious matter, we risk the condemnation of hell—but not because God is an over-zealous policeman seeking to punish any and every crime with punctilious efficiency. No. We can only end up in hell if we obstinately turn from God and reject Him. Being condemned to hell is the person’s fault, not God’s.

For God’s eye is the eye of a loving Father who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but who desires only that the wicked person would turn from his ways and live. (cf. Ez. 33:11). So much so that, as the Gospel of St John teaches us: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (Jn 3:16-17)

It is not often taught today that, as a matter of justice, sin must be made up for. It requires reparation: literally, the damage it causes must be repaired. Sin cannot be passed off as a human foible of no consequence. No, sin is a sub-human offense against God or God’s law, and that offense must be put right lest the state of estrangement from God that it brings about destroys our very humanity in this life and in the next.

The Good News is, of course, that Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for all sin through His Sacrificial death on the Cross, making mercy and forgiveness not only possibilities, but realities that are at our disposition if only we will turn away from sin—if only we will convert—and seek new life in Christ. We are incapable of making up for the damage our sins have caused. Our Lord’s sacrifice, however, is of infinite merit if only we are prepared to pray with the publican of this morning’s Gospel: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

We do not know much about the publican, but it seems that everyone else did—most especially the Pharisee. Was his public house a place of ill repute? Was he himself a dishonest businessman, a womaniser, a drunkard? Quite possibly. The Pharisee was guilty of no such sins, and yet it was the publican and not the Pharisee whom Our Lord says was justified in the sight of God, enjoying God’s mercy and forgiveness. Why? Because of his humility. Because the publican knew he was a sinner and did not presume to present himself as anything else.

Here, my brothers and sisters, is the key. Yes, facing the reality of ourselves is not easy—at times it can be truly frightening, and we can feel utterly impotent in the face of the vices that have taken root in us. Yet with humility, with the acknowledgement of our sins, and the will to take the steps that are necessary to turn away from them—hard though that they may be—and with the will to persevere in pursuing the path of the conversion of our lives, God’s mercy and forgiveness are ours for the asking. So too is the grace to persevere in growing in virtue.

We must do our part—and certainly, at times, that is not easy—so that God can do His work within us. He will not take us prisoner. His eye is that of a loving father who waits for us to turn to Him anew so that he can give us all that we need, and more. For the grace of humility and for the grace of the conversion of life—in ourselves and in the hearts of our family and friends—let us pray earnestly at this altar as we participate anew in Our Lord’s efficacious sacrifice for our sins in this Holy Mass. +