by Mrs. Heather Cook, OP, Lay Dominican, Houston, TX
Am I going to be on the right side of Christ when the Son of Man comes? What does this mean for me on my walk with Christ? What does it mean to be on His left? I hope to be one of the Lambs not one of the goats; however, I contemplate what actions have I shown out of love for this to be so. In these turbulent times, there is a profound division of the wheat from the chaff. In this current world, there is becoming a more defined line being witnessed in who is for Christ and who is against Him. We can be assured of peace in knowing we are being obedient to our Teacher if we follow His will always in Truth. (John 14:27) To suffer in this world is for a finite time and to suffer in the next is to suffer in purgatory for a moment or for eternity to fall in the abyss. The suffering we will encounter in this world that He chooses for us we will be able to not merely endure but I dare say thrive with His Grace. He will also expect us to give of our free will His Mercy to others of a radical kind as we have received it from Him through sanctifying grace which makes this possible.
Christ asks us to see Him in the suffering in various forms of weakness and vulnerability our own and others. We must allow the scales to fall from our eyes and see Christ in the imprisoned, sickly, lonely, hungry, thirsty, and naked of this world. Christ came as the Divine Physician to heal all without exception. Christ wants us to show mercy in a radical way to the sufferings of others whether addicted or afflicted. He found me at my lowest and lifted me upon His shoulders as a tender lamb lost in the darkness. He befriends the sick in all the different forms of sickness they are riddled with. Can we look beyond the disfigurement of the oozing wounds whether spiritual or physical to see Christ our True Love in the sores like a Saint Catherine of Siena? This is the radical love He calls us to; however He never says go and continue to sin, but instead go and sin no more your faith has saved you. We must not water down the truth to make ourselves or others comfortable. We must radically love souls where they are while also speaking boldly the truth of the Gospel in all circumstances. We must remember He is refashioning us to His Divine Will it will not be an easy path to follow but the joy of eternal bliss with Him in the next life awaits. We must care for the souls we encounter without sacrificing the truth of the Gospels realizing we also have been uncomfortable in our sin and repent and find our way to the confessional once again. Our Catholic faith can not be changed to suit our needs or others needs for comfort as if a passing fad. Truth will make us uncomfortable as it will reveal what Christ is asking us to radically change in ourselves. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching” (Hebrews 13:8-9)
Let us allow ourselves and others to be refashioned into new creatures molded by the kiln of the fire of His Love and yes it is painful, however much more so would it be to suffer eternal separation from His Perfect and Divine Love. May we continue to strive to teach and love others where they are at while continually allowing Christ to refashion our hearts into His Image with an awareness of the purifying in ourselves that we are in need of by the one in whom our hearts live for.
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