Monday of the
Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 18:16-33; Matthew 8:18-22)
C.S. Lewis published a series of essays entitled God in the Dock. The book presents evidence for what the title
suggests: that modern humanity has placed God on trial. Rather than trusting God, many today prefer
to blame at least the concept of God for the world’s wars. It is not an entirely new concept as today’s
first reading shows.
Sodom and Gomorrah are known for corruption, but not all
of their inhabitants are sinful. God could
not be considered just if He, as Abraham probes, destroyed the cities with as
few as fifty good people. But what if
there were not quite fifty good people? He
equally could not be considered just if there were forty or thirty or even
ten. Beyond that God could destroy the
cities and save any of the just through special acts of mercy. In the end this is what God does sending fire
and brimstone and Sodom and Gomorrah while sparing Lot and his family.
For us God has shown himself more than any human concept
of justice would have Him. He not only
refuses to destroy humanity for its outrages but has sent His Son to save us
from our folly. But we have to trust in Him
by following Jesus’ ways.
