It is not so hard to believe, after any perusal or casual reading of the secular media's inbred verdicts against the Pope, that before Christ's judgment seat on the Day of Reckoning the goats will be immediately decipherable from the sheep by the fact that, being charged in the light of truth, they will be accusing each other, before His very feet, for the cause of each other's own sins.
The vision is as comedic as it is horrific: what we see now in time will pretty much be the same at the feet of eternity and the opening of the books of life; the only difference being in degree - since it will be in the full disclosure of conscience: that illumination showing how culpability can be traced, by intricate, mysterious ways, to the door of every household and to the very air of a society's false normalcy.
The gamut will be run, from those bearing accusations based in out-of-context information (though for everyone, what in time really is seen in full context?), facts not even half understood, but driven on presumptions, to those bearing sharpest accusations of real injustice, but held fiercely as though God Himself could not possibly have a better way of answering to it. Thus, all their known "truths" will be little more than darkness thrown around and hurled at each other.
The noise from the goats will be such that the sheep, holding the burden of mercy, will be tempted to open their own mouths to decry the reasons for their own sins. But they will not - though they may even have the more justified accusations to make. The Catholic, the Christian, has ended the discussion before it even begins, by accepting the vitriol into his center without demanding recompense.
This mercy is a crucible that contains the truth, and within it, the truth becomes truer. Outside of it, truth becomes the exact opposite. For without mercy (mercy being besought of God on yourself and in turn showing mercy to others; not being mere leniency, but mercy being that very prerequisite which enables all life), truth becomes as dark as that corrupt thing which one seeks to expose. Further, the person no longer has the desire even for the exposing of truth; he merely wields darkness for his own ends. The catch to mercy though is this: to be merciful is to bear pain; to bear pain in rejection of something else.
Only in mercy do we gain sight of our goal; only in mercy do we gain an appreciation for the fragility of our existence and for all that is held in the balance and that is completely beyond our comprehension; only in mercy does the contemptuous, infinitely punishable nature of sin become apparent; only in mercy can one make his first step towards anything without prematurely arriving at the most stupid conclusions.
Not in enlightenment; not in a systematized greater good; but only in mercy. You must bear the seal of mercy, both as recipient and as giver, and between the two your own pending reception of the debt owed to you (with interest) must die.
This is, generally speaking, the narrow gate. We enter it of our own free will, or perish.
No comments:
Post a Comment