A MESSAGE FOR SEXAGESIMA
Last week’s Gospel seemed like it was good news for all those who like to procrastinate. It told the story of the vineyard owner who went out to find workers for the harvest, and then ended up paying the same amount to those he hired at the end of the day as to those who had spent the entire day laboring in the heat of the sun. The moral of the story seems to be that the reward for the wicked who convert on their death bed will be the same as those who go to church religiously every Sunday, and lead a life filled with penance and crosses. In the light of this parable we may be excused for asking ourselves what would normally be the rather blasphemous question, “What’s the point?” Why should we deny ourselves all the “good things” in life, a self-centered lifestyle filled with sinful pleasures? Why struggle to do good all the time if we can be bad and just “convert” at the end of our miserable life?
If we find ourselves asking this question, let’s recognize it for what it is—a temptation to abuse God’s goodness. If our goal is to spend eternity in loving union with God, why on earth would we spend our life here offending his goodness, with some vague resolution that we’ll convert “later”. St. Augustine was one who fell into this temptation. As a young man he prayed “Lord, make me chaste (sexually pure) – but not yet!” Allowing oneself to become entrapped by this sinful procrastination is itself to commit a further sin, that of presumption. “Lord,” we’re saying, “I intend to do whatever I want, whether it pleases you or not, whether it offends you or not. It matters not that each of my sin adds to your sufferings in Gethsemane and on Calvary. I don’t care. Nevertheless, in spite of my scorn for your goodness, I demand that you give me the graces to convert before I die. Sure, I’ll hurt you as much as I want now, but you had better make sure I have the opportunity to get to confession on my death bed, so that I can continue my earthly delights even in the next life.”
What a terrible sin such presumption is! That we would treat with such contempt the loving Lord who suffered so much so that we would not have to. Of course, when we think about it in this way, we tend to pat ourselves on the back, and admire our own lack of such an attitude. We’re very quick to excuse ourselves, to thank God that we are “not like other men” who sin boldly all the while presuming upon God’s mercy. Oh, no! We’re fearful of God’s justice, and we do what we can to avoid being deprived of our eternal reward, don’t we! And yet…
The fact is, every time we commit a sin and think to ourselves, “I’ll just go to confession next Sunday,” we commit this sin of presumption. It may be on a smaller scale, but it’s still the same exact sin. And God’s answer to it is the same: “How do you know you’ll make it to next Sunday? Why do you offend me, and then expect mercy every time? I will choose to whom I will send my graces, and I will choose when to withhold them. Many are called but few are chosen. When I send my graces, and you do not cooperate with them, I may not be so quick to send them again. You’re playing with fire, and will very likely find yourself burning in that fire.”
The reason for now bringing up last Sunday’s Gospel is that today, Sexagesima Sunday, we read the story of Noah and the Great Flood. All the graces that God bestowed on man were held in such contempt that God wiped them out. He found only one family, Noah’s, worthy of being saved. And yes, he saved them, but the countless other souls were cut off in the midst of their sinning, drowned in the depths of the deluge. Their presumption turned into despair, and their phantoms stand now before us, warnings of our own future if we do not firmly resolve, by the help of God’s grace, never to sin again, and never ever again to abuse God’s merciful forgiveness. We have been warned. It comes from God in the form of grace that we will either accept or reject. But like all graces, it may be the last we receive. It’s never too late until it’s too late!
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