Tuesday, November 16, 2010

One Must Learn To Emulate Dismas And Not Gesmas

It is a daunting task, in the wake of these fresh scandals, to turn one’s eyes to the countenance of the Lord. His indignation would surely burn us to cinders, yet if we could look at Him, there would be no surprise in His face. He recoiled in horror already at Gethsemane, underwent the torment required for expiation on the cross, and pronounced the words of forgiveness even in the midst of His Passion. Yet, one must learn to emulate Dismas and not Gesmas in order to be with Him in paradise. We must not expect God to prove Himself by rescuing us from torment, or that which we love. At one time Malachi Martin a Jesuit priest made the inexorable point that in trying to play the World's game, even in the name of charity and prudence, leads to servitude of Mammon. It must be a crucified, perhaps marginalized, Church to which we belong, not one exalted in this world. Accept this then: Judas has manifested himself again. The calumny, torture, and death at the hand of the World are to follow.
Link (here) to the full post at the blog The Wild Tears Fall by Jacobitess
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1 comment:

TonyD said...

I’ve noticed that religious perspectives often seem to vacillate between extremes. Some say we are surrounded by Evil and that God must be angry. Others say we are in the continuous presence of God and His good choices, though He must be very unhappy with our imperfect choices.

I suspect that these perspectives distort to our experience here. I don’t doubt that evil is quite real, and God is sometimes angry, and that we are in the presence of God, and that He is often unhappy with our choices. But how can we infer God’s response to any particular situation? We lack omniscience and omnipotence, and cannot anticipate God’s judgment.

We don’t know if God feels that the Church must be “marginalized”. I would only expect that His judgment reflects His values. A Church helping Him reach His goals might shrink, expand, or be unchanging. He can achieve His goals in many ways that are consistent with His values.

I can’t help but wonder why we feel compelled to “create” a God from our values.

November 16, 2010 at 6:36 PM

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