Monday, January 27, 2014


Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(II Samuel 5:1-7.10; Mark 3:22-20)

Can God make a rock so big that He cannot lift it?  No, that would be a contradiction for the all-powerful God.  And could there be a sin so bad that God could not forgive it?  No, that too would contradict the God, the Father of mercies.  Then what is this talk about the unpardonable sin in the gospel today?

Jesus comes to earth as God’s very forgiveness.  That is, to believe in him by becoming his disciple is to receive forgiveness.  To reject him, as the scribes from Jerusalem do by accusing him of collusion with the devil, is to deny God’s forgiveness.  It is like the old story of the man who drowned in a flood after refusing to get in a safety boat saying God would rescue him. 

Then can only Christians be saved?  Yes, but not only professed Christians.  The Holy Spirit acts in ways that seem strange to us.  Working from within, the Spirit moves many to Christ’s compassion and truth without their even knowing it.  If such people were on hand when Jesus walked the earth, they would never have rejected him.  We need to ask ourselves if we would have?