Relieve the troubles of my hearat;
bring me out of my distress....
Take away all my sins
Psalm 25: 17-18
The readings call us to conversion and reconciliation. Taken seriously these words are a reminder that God is a just God. He punishes the evil but forgives the repentant.
Today's culture has fallen into yet another Satanic trap. News on a 24/7 basis and the effort to make public the weaknesses and sins of every man and woman --usually except those of reporters-- has become a national sport, so it seems. (A challenge to dictionary editors: "pundits" are described as learned individuals. However the words seems to be made up from two Latin words: Anyone who watches TV or listens to non-music radio is regularly smothered by efforts to reveal the failures in others, hardly a credit to anyone's great wisdom!
Yes, these readings are a reminder to us that there is a God who will judge each of us. However, nowhere in the Bible is there an invitation from God, the prophets, the evangelists or other others who writings are contained in the sacred book, nowhere to be found is the request from God to help him judge other people. Demanding judgment and delivering punishment belong to God and to him alone.
These writings today recall the numerous divine pledges to forgive the wicked, the evil when they seek forgiveness from Go as well as seek reconciliation with those they have injured in any way.
As I live, says the Lord, I swear
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man,
but rather
in the wicked man's conversion,
that he might live.
Ezechiel 33:4
