Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S LOVE
From a commentary by St Caesarius of Arles1
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In today’s gospel, beloved, we heard the exhortation to repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now the kingdom of heaven is Christ, who, as we
know, is the judge of good and evil and scrutinizes the motives for all our
actions. We should therefore do well to forestall God’s judgment by freely
acknowledging our sins and correcting our wrongheaded attitudes; for by
failing to seek out the needful remedies and apply them, we place ourselves in
danger. And our knowledge that we have to account for the motives behind our
shortcomings makes the need for such a change of heart even greater.

We must recognize the greatness of God’s love for us; so generous is it
that he is willing to be appeased by the amends we make for our evil deeds,
provided only that we freely admit them before he has himself condemned
them. And though his judgments are always just, he gives us a warning before
he passes them, so as not to be compelled to apply the full rigor of his justice. It
is not for nothing that our God draws floods of tears from us; he does so to incite
us to recover by penance and a change of heart what we had previously let slip
through carelessness. God is well aware that human judgment is often at fault,
that we are prone to fleshly sins and deceitful speech. He therefore shows us the
way of repentance, by which we can compensate for damage done and atone for
our faults. And so to be sure of obtaining forgiveness, we ought to be always
bewailing our guilt. Yet no matter how many wounds our human nature has
sustained, we are never justified in giving ourselves over to despair, for our Lord
is magnanimous enough to pour out his compassion abundantly on all who
need it.

But perhaps one of you will say: “What have I to fear? I have never done
anything wrong.” On this point hear what the apostle John says: If we claim to
be sinless, we deceive ourselves and are blind to the truth. So let no one lead
you astray; the most pernicious kind of sin is the failure to recognize one’s own
sinfulness. Once let wrongdoers admit their guilt and repent of it, and this
change of heart will bring about their reconciliation with the Lord; but no sinner
is more in need of the tears of others than the one who thinks he has nothing to
weep for. So I implore you, beloved, to follow the advice given you by the holy
Scripture and humble yourselves beneath the all-powerful hand of God.

As none of us can be wholly free from sin, so let none of us fail to make
amends; here too we do ourselves great harm if we presume our own innocence.
It may be that some are less guilty than others, but no one is entirely free from
fault; there may be degrees of guilt, but no one can escape it altogether. Let
those then whose offenses are more grievous be more earnest in seeking
pardon; and let those who have so far escaped contamination by the more
heinous crimes pray that they may never be defiled by them….

1
Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1999 – pg 74-75.