THE EXACTING WAY THAT LEADS TO LIFE

 

THE EXACTING WAY THAT LEADS TO LIFE

Some people complain that the teaching of the Catholic Church is strict.  A good response to this complaint might be to point out that it is God who is strict, not the Church!  If you do not believe it, just read the Bible.  The plain evidence is there for all to see, and hopefully to be moved to repentance.  Both Testaments present the punishment of sinners as severe.  They also reveal God’s desire for the conversion of sinners and his offer of mercy and forgiveness to all who seek him.

We see this dynamic in the marvelous vision of the end of the world provided in the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse, also known as Revelation.  It reveals that after many tribulations and battles, he who is the Alpha and Omega – the Christ – will bring everything to completion with the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:3).  God will then make his dwelling with humanity.  “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away” (21:4).  The victors will drink from the springs of life-giving water and will be true sons and daughters of God (21:6-7).  Here we have a vision of God’s perfect mercy.

Revelation also gives us a vision of God’s perfect justice, which is fearful.  “But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (21:8).  The New Jerusalem will need no light, for its light is the glory of God, and night will no longer exist.  Its gates will always be open, for there will be no threats to the city.  But Revelation indicates that they are not open to the unwashed.  “The treasure and the wealth of the nations will be brought there, but nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who does abominable things or tells lies.  Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21:26-27). “Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates” (22:14).

Humans must choose one of two possible options for their resurrected bodies and eternal souls – the New Jerusalem or what Jesus described as the place “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 8:48).  It is just and merciful, indeed, for God to be “strict” in his instructions on how we should live, to give us the best chance and greatest motivation to choose the better option.  There are only two ways – the way of light and the way of darkness.  “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.  But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in Christ” (John 3:20-21). 

Since Christ came into the world to save it, not to condemn it, those who put their faith in him and live in him will not perish in the second death but will have eternal life (cf. John 3:16).  “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).  By his Word, and by the teaching of the Church, he makes the two ways known.  God imparts knowledge, and at the same time provides the grace to respond to his truth and walk in the light.  It is by his strength that we become victors and join with the heavenly hosts.  With such high stakes, it seems very good to me that the guidelines are strict and the rules firm.  They are all within our grasp to follow because of the help God gives us by the Holy Spirit.  “God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  In God, there is mercy and justice, and the two are not opposed.