God will call all of us to be accountable for our choices and actions in this life
The promise of the Scripture readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time is that we will be held accountable for our actions in this life. By what will we be measured and who will do the measuring? In times of uncertainty and chaos, it seems even more important to remember who is the anchor and arbiter of truth.
The call to be accountable can make us worried about the future, but that would be misguided. There is a long history of predicting when the world will end and how it will happen. We know how often people have promised us that they alone know the truth and that we should listen to them as they predict the future. Because of the fear we have about the future, many of us are tempted to search for truth, rather than what God has revealed to us through the life of Jesus.
The first truth that we need to reestablish is that no one knows when the promised day of accounting will happen, except for God the Father. It takes quite a level of arrogance for any human being to claim that God has revealed to him or her the exact day and time it will happen. The truth is that we are called to live today in a way that reflects Jesus to the world, especially to our enemies and those who have nothing to give us in return.
I write this prior to Election Day, even though readers will receive it afterward. The results of the election and who won or lost will have an effect on our lives but should not affect how we act and approach the gift that today is to us. Some will be joyous and others will be disappointed at the results, but that doesn’t need to be a prediction of how we act toward each other. We should focus on the kind of behavior we would like to present to the judge of the living and the dead as we face the final day and are held accountable.
As we approach our celebration of Thanksgiving and move quickly into the season of Advent, we have ample opportunity to live out the faith that we profess. This season of gratitude allows us not only to count our gifts, but also to acknowledge God as the giver of gifts. A concentration on gratitude hopefully will make us more humble and less arrogant. May we acknowledge more deeply the fact that what we have is a gift, not what we truly deserve. We live dependent on the mercy of God. Time and again we stand on the foundation of forgiveness, since we are all sinners. Does our gratitude for forgiveness lead us to give that same gift to others, or do we decide that we are better because we judge our sins as less than those of others?
Instead of pulling back into our safe groups of like-minded people, can we have the courage to be together with those with whom we simply disagree or don’t understand? Can we consciously put ourselves where Jesus asks us to be? Can we choose to spend time with the hungry, the lonely, the stranger, the imprisoned, the sick, the dying and learn the lesson that they have to teach us? In Pope Francis’ “The Gospel of Joy,” he tells us that the poor can teach us that true joy is not based on circumstances, but on true relationship with Jesus. Even though circumstances change, true joy is possible because we are loved and can love in return. May we experience true joy and be the presence of joy in the world today.
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
