One of the things I have learned from living in Montana is that I must have a green thumb, because every year I manage to grow a very healthy crop of dandelions in my yard without even trying. I wake up one morning and “Poof”, there they are. I write this to you today because in this week’s readings our blessed Lord is again using seed and planting in His parables, as He tries to deepen their understanding of the “Kingdom of God”.
Our Lord Jesus is known by many attributes. He is the Good Shepherd, He is the Prince of Peace, He is the righteous one etc. When contemplating our Lord we also have to remember that He is the Just Judge and that we will be judged according to how well we followed His commandments and how we treated others. Most of us do not like to think about judgment or Hell. We want to keep God in our own little box of fluffy wuffy Jesus with little cherubs floating around with harps. All kidding aside, Hell is real, so is Heaven, and so is judgment. The Church affirms that one day each of us will be called to account for our life, with Christ as our judge. That moment arrives at death and is known as the “particular judgment”. Death puts an end to the time we have to accept or reject God’s commands and graces. The second judgment occurs at the return of our Lord, when He will judge the living and the dead. “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5). This is what our Lord is talking about in today’s gospel. We need to embrace the teachings on judgment as well as the teachings on mercy and love. We need to be ready.
So what do we do? First I recommend repenting and telling God you are sorry for your sins. Make a list of what you know has separated you from God and then go to Confession. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the healing Sacraments. It is there to make you well. When we go to a doctor or a hospital we know that sometimes the treatment in order to make us well is unpleasant and maybe even painful, yet in order to save our lives and make us well, we have to go through it. Spiritually when we are in grave sin, or “mortal” sin, then we are in danger of losing our salvation with God. We need to be healed, and this Sacrament is our place of healing. So, this week, make time to go to Reconciliation. Be made well again, for none of us knows when our last breath will be. Don’t take any chances. It is time to get rid of those weeds. Something to think about and do! May God richly bless all of you.
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