Thursday of the
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 18:1-6; Matthew 13:47-53)
Preachers today often speak of God’s “unconditional
love.” Rightly understood, the statement
is on target. God’s love is not conditioned
by our actions. He loves sinners as wells
as saints. He wants the best for all humans.
He is always there to help them if they but turn to Him.
Yet it seems that some run too fast with the idea of
God’s unconditional love. They seem to
say that it assures everyone a place in the Kingdom. They want to claim that nothing anyone does
might deprive him or her from life eternal. A funeral director, who hears plenty of
homilies about God’s mercy, said that this was one of the results of Vatican
II.
But, of course, the bishops arrived at no such conclusion
fifty years ago nor could they do so today.
It would counter Jesus’ teaching in the parable of a huge catch of fish
some good and some bad. In the first
reading as well the Lord declares Himself able to reject a people to whom He
has shown great love.
