This is part of a homily recently given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, and comes to us through the Zenit website. I thought this part was perfect for a Friday of Lent:"If you look at the religions of the world, there are unique qualities about each of them, that were founded by sincere people, far away from Christianity, and perhaps with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in those cultures: Buddhism, for instance. And in those religions, God never suffers. In the Jewish religion, from which we come, God gets mad. He gets annoyed. He also gets happy; he rejoices when things are going well.
But in Christianity, God suffers. An incredible, impossible thought. The absolute, infinite, divine being, eternal, unchangeable... That he could weep: This is the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ comes and weeps with us. He suffers with us. We have the unthinkable reality of a God who dies. Incomprehensible.
Theologically, we have explanations through the Councils of how it could happen, but it's a mystery of mysteries. And the devotions of the centuries, especially of the Sacred Heart, reveal that Christ in a mysterious way suffers with us today."
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Not so long ago, I did a study of Islam and as part of the exercise, I asked myself hypothetically, could I ever convert from Catholic Christianity to Islam, or any other religion for that reason? After considering this very point, the self-giving and suffering God, I realized how irrational such a move would be. How could anyone in possession of such exquisite Truth ever relinquish it? Nothing can ever compare with the Christian Truth of Christ, our Redeemer.
But of course, people do apostatize, as irrational as that might seem. One of the main reasons has to have been poor catechesis and guidance over the past few decades. That’s why the Lord has sent holy and orthodox priests to gather in those who have been allowed to be lost. God bless you for all you do in your priesthood.
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