The forgiveness of God is not simply a general attitude of mercy toward us. It is our very real and actual redemption. Can we say God forgives all, yet not all are saved or is it more accurate to say, God has an attitude of mercy and forgiveness towards all but not all are forgiven and redeemed. Our parable helps us to understand why not all are forgiven their debt.

Both the Centurion and the Nobleman had faith in Jesus. The difference is the centurions faith was perfect and mature and relied solely on the Word of Jesus, the nobleman’s faith was imperfect and weak and required a sign. When Jesus rebukes the nobleman’s faith and refuses to come he is disciplining the nobleman and doing what is needed to perfect his faith.

If someone asks you why we pray for the departed- ask them why do we pray for anyone? God knows what we need, He does not need us to inform him. Jesus is the Mediator, Jesus finished the work, Jesus is our intercessor, He doesn’t need us to pray. Why pray at all?

Johns prophecy to the first Christians is that while apostate Israel will be destroyed- they will survive, they will not go down with old Israel, they will emerge as the remnant, they will endure the coming persecution and tribulation and it will become clear that they are the true Israel the perfected Israel of which the former was a type and a shadow.

When He Ascended into Heaven accompanied by the Angelic Host trumpeting His return to majesty as the glorified God-man the conqueror of death and reconciler of creation. He entered into the Heavenly tabernacle and presented before God the Father a new Humanity, Holy and Blameless and he said: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

And because we know and we believe we must speak, we must respond to the Word we have received. We have a voice, the Logos has been put into our mouths from the knowledge of the voice and we must bear witness, we must speak the truth to the world and back to God in praises.

If we think of our creation as God throwing us into existence and thus propelling us toward a goal the image is not of God throwing a ball-- but a boomerang. The Divinely caused trajectory of our existence is meant to be an arc which comes back to the source. We who came forth from God must return to God.

Love God and Love Neighbor this is everything. This love is manifest thru worship. Worship is the offering of sacrifice which we associate with the direct worship of God but may not realize that the sacrificial deeds we do on the behalf of our neighbor are accounted as sacrifices offered to God and they are pleasing and acceptable to Him. Our good deeds, our love of neighbor are part of our worship of God.

When man became his own god and started fabricating rules the rules he made destroyed love. And this is the constant challenge that Jesus runs into with the Pharisees and lawyers. Their rules are tyrannous and love depleting. God’s rules are life giving and love building. It is not a matter of rules or no rules. Of law being bad and lawlessness being good. The problem is the source and the inner meaning and motivation.

We honor the great warrior Archangel this day and celebrate his mighty defeat of Satan, if we want St. Michael to be our friend and defender we must become like a child seated on the lap of Christ. This is how we will make his victory our own and the angels will fight for us and bring us to Christ through all the dangers and snares of this world.