Psalm Reflection: The Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B

“With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.” - Psalms 130

“We have to do a biopsy to see if it is cancer.”

When my doctor said those words to me two years ago I remember hearing them, but it took a while for the emotion behind them to really sink in. I had obviously known people who had cancer, but it had never felt so close and foreboding before.

A few weeks later, the biopsy of my thyroid came back negative. However, I know how real and painful the reality of cancer has been for so many. It may even be happening to you or to someone you love right now, so I do not use the analogy lightly, but it is one we are all sadly familiar with:

Imagine you had cancer and, in an effort to beat it, you devoted yourself to discover the cure and you found it! Imagine the relief and the celebration!

But what if you kept the cure to yourself? 

What do you think others would do if they found out? 

Do you think there would be consequences?

The Psalm for this Sunday talks about mercy. Mercy is what God gives us that we do not deserve. Essentially, it is everything, because everything good in our lives is an undeserved gift from God. The fact that we are sinners, and our sin put Christ on the cross, yet we have all the blessings we do is evidence of God’s unfailing mercy for us.

When we ask God for mercy, we are recognizing our sinful nature, and asking God to forgive us even though we do not deserve it and will very likely sin again.

However, mercy is not permission to keep on sinning. Sin is a spiritual cancer that deteriorates our ability to love and become the people that God created us to be. We are not capable of overcoming it on our own, so God, in His infinite mercy, overcame it for us by dying on the cross for our sins.

The cross is the cure.

Salvation is a free gift, a cure we discover through the Holy Spirit. But mercy does not give us permission to stay in our sin without any effort to strive for holiness. If we receive the cure and do not share it, if it causes us to only treat Jesus and the Sacraments like spiritual band-aids to help us avoid Hell, then we should not be surprised when there are eternal consequences.

Mercy is a gift, a gift that is meant to be opened, used, and responded to. It should affect everything we are and everything we do. It should compel us to serve God and others because we have been given something that has healed us and made us whole again.

God does not want us to stay in a state of spiritual cancer and deterioration in our sin. So, He extends His mercy and forgiveness to us even though we do not deserve it. However, if nothing else in our life changes, then the spiritual cancer will return and we will reap the consequences.

As the Psalmist points out, mercy and redemption come together as a package deal. We cannot only take mercy in order to make ourselves feel better about our sin, but refuse redemption because we are unwilling to change.

We cannot be tempted to think, “God is merciful, He will save all of us in the end!” Jesus says it Himself that it will not be that easy:

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” - Matthew 7:13-14

God is certainly merciful, but salvation is for those who turn away from sin and pursue Christ through baptism. It does not happen by accident.

God loves us exactly as we are, but He also loves us too much to let us stay as we are. God gives us His mercy so that we will give up our sin. If we rely on His mercy to help us in the end, but we hold onto our sin, the spiritual cancer will return and spread until it claims our entire soul.

The Saints are those who received the cure of the cross and shared it with others by allowing their lives to be completely changed and devoted to the Lord. Take their advice:

“You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all." - St. Thérèse of Lisieux

“Our business is to gain heaven, everything else is a sheer waste of time!" - St. Vincent de Paul 

“Start being brave about everything, driving out darkness and spreading light as well. Don’t look at your weakness, but realize that in Christ crucified you can do everything.” - St. Catherine of Siena

Seek the Lord’s mercy, not as temporary medicine, but the cure your heart longs for to experience the gift of redemption.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt

This reflection is based on the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, June 9th, 2024, which is the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B: Psalms 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8.