Pouring Out

We want the people in the way of our loved ones' salvation to be cleared out.  No mercy for them. It isn't just evangelicals.  A Catholic priest told our group a story of a woman who worried about her brother, who had long ago left the Church and was now dying, who kept telling him he should call for the priest and receive Extreme Unction (which most of us call the last rites). Lord, please grant this small thing.  I am sure it will be enough. And there are Gospel accounts of Jesus operating at a distance, or indirectly simply by being touched. 

It reminds me of the many mothers talking about their child who "got in with a bad crowd."  In one sense that is true, for we are social creatures, and the accident of who was in our neighborhood or class does have an effect.  However, sometimes we are the bad crowd for someone else. Sometimes it is not the lack of a single friend or the prayer of a single sentence. Sometimes the need is thoroughgoing and huge.

I was at a funeral mass for a middle-aged man who committed suicide and was impressed how the language of the liturgy was quite different. The grace and mercy of God are poured out. It m ght be good for us to remember that to be am dog beneath the table waiting for scraps is enough and begging for those, but for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Father's love is poured out.

Poured out. Take your time. Maybe come back to this on Good Friday.