Fr Sean again:
Is God Inclusive?
As we enter the middle of Lent during which God calls us to fast, pray, and give alms He also calls us to deepen our relationship with Him. We have been taught by the Church, reflecting the Holy Scriptures, that God loves everyone and calls everyone to belong to His Kingdom. But does that mean that everyone is included in His Kingdom? We hear a lot today about inclusivity both politically and religiously. In relation to that we also hear about diversity and equity. What do these words mean for Christians? Does God want to include everyone? Does God want diversity? Does He want equity which is understood today as equality of output? God wants to include everyone but being included is conditional. God doesn’t want diversity, rather He wants unity. God doesn’t want equity of output, rather He wants equality of opportunity base on meritocracy and on entitlement based on gender, race, or culture.
Is God inclusive? What does it mean to be inclusive? Generally it means to respect, value, and act justly towards every human being regardless of race, nationality, colour, or creed. While we must act justly and respect every person, that doesn’t mean that we will want to include everyone in our home, work, leisure activities, etc. Why? We don’t include in our circles anyone who demeans us, is violent towards us, or insults us. Inclusivity is conditional. Even God’s inclusivity is conditional. God doesn’t give us a blank sheet and tell us to fill in the conditions upon which we expect Him to include us in His Kingdom. He lays down the conditions that we must meet if we want Him to include us in His family. He provides those conditions in the Holy Scriptures and in the Apostolic Tradition of Jesus’ Church. Jesus is very clear in revealing that belonging to His Church is conditional: “I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God” (Mt 18:2-4). Witness Jesus’ Parable of the Net (Mt 13:47-50) where the fishermen haul all kinds of fish in their net but keep the good fish and throw away the bad. We have to stop being apathetic and take God’s word seriously because He says what He means and means what He says. We must remember what God said to Moses and His people: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, BUT who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex 34:6-7). God wants to stop the rot of sin in us but if we don’t cooperate with Him the rottenness will continue down through the generations. What kind of a legacy do we want to hand on to our children?
God’s people in the Old Testament found out that if they didn’t meet God’s conditions they would be excluded from His protection and so were overcome by their enemies. “The God of their fathers sent His messengers to them. But they mocked the messengers … despised God’s warnings and scoffed at His prophets, until the anger of the Lord against His people became so inflamed that there was no remedy” (2 Chron 36:14-23). The Babylonians conquered the Israelites and enslaved them. Seventy years later, after much suffering, the Israelites received another chance to obey God’s conditions for inclusivity in His company. He inspired Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, to liberate them and let them return to Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, and renew their commitment to be faithful to the covenant requirements. God, in His mercy, gave them another chance to get it right, to repent of their rebelliousness, and humbly consent to obey His rules. The required change of attitude is summed up by the Psalmist: “May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember You not, if I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy” (Ps 137:1-6). The Jerusalem Temple symbolized God's presence.
This is the God revealed by Jesus in John’s Gospel (3:14-21): “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life… whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he did not believe in God’s only Son.” St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, highlighted God’s mercy, in his letter to the Ephesians (2:4-10): “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He has for us, even when we were dead in our sins, brought us to life in Christ.” The Holy Spirit reveals here that if we want to be saved by God we must believe in Jesus Christ, not just in our words but more importantly in our actions. If we don’t we’ll be excluded from Heaven. Death will be an enormous shock for so many who think they lived a good life according to the world’s standard but it wasn’t good according to Jesus’ standard.
What we have to realize here is that while God loves and calls everyone to belong to Him we must meet His conditions in order to benefit from His love and invitation. Jesus Himself stated clearly that, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father in Heaven. Whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in Heaven” (Mt 10:32-33). This is He why revealed Himself to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). There are no diverse ways to Heaven. Universalism is common today, namely the false notion that all religions are equal and direct ways to Heaven. Sadly, this heresy is promoted even by some leaders within Jesus’ Church. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus is the one and only way. Therefore to enter Heaven every person will have to acknowledge that Jesus is God’s only Son (Jn 17:3), the Redeemer of the world, and is the only means of entry. That requires supernatural Faith, which in turn requires us to be receptive to the Holy Spirit so that He can convert our human spirit to obey God’s will. Very often our human spirit is a rebellious one and we don’t like to be told what to do. This is why Jesus warned us to realize immediately that, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:12-15). That means in the words of |St. Peter, “Reform your lives! Turn to God, that your sins may be wiped away! Thus may a season of refreshment be granted you by the Lord when He sends you Jesus, already designated as your Messiah” (Acts 3:19-20).
Let us not be tricked by Satan into thinking that God accepts us as we are and so we don’t need to change. God meets us where we are in order to bring us to where we need to be and do what we need to do in order to be included in His Kingdom and benefit from His love. God’s inclusivity is conditional. Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love, just as I love my Father and keep His commandments” (Jn 15:10). Let’s remember that if we don’t keep His commandments we don’t remain in His love. To be included we must obey God’s rules and we skirt them to our own eternal hell. (fr sean)
The Litany of Preparation for Confession of Sin
This is a prayer asking for God’s mercy, forgiveness, and aid in turning from sin. It invokes Jesus Christ, recalling His mercy and forgiveness shown to many sinners and outcasts in the Bible – from Adam to Zacchaeus. It asks for the grace to judge ourselves and produce worthy fruits of penance so that sin does not reign in me. The prayer seeks pardon, peace, cleansing from offenses, and the ability to serve God with a quiet mind.
The Litany of Penance
Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ, hear me.
Christ, graciously hear me.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on me.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on me.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on me.
Incarnate Lord, have mercy on me.
Lover of souls, have mercy on me.
Saviour of sinners, have mercy on me.
Who came to seek those that were lost, have mercy on me.
Who fasted for them forty days and nights, have mercy on me.
By Thy tenderness towards Adam when he fell, have mercy on me.
By Thy faithfulness to Noah in the ark, have mercy on me.
By Thy remembrance of Lot in the midst of sinners, have mercy on me.
By Thy mercy on the Israelites in the desert, have mercy on me.
By Thy forgiveness of David after his confession, have mercy on me.
By Thy patience with wicked Ahab on his humiliation, have mercy on me.
By Thy restoration of the penitent Manasseh, have mercy on me.
By Thy long suffering towards the Ninevites, when they went in sackcloth and ashes, have mercy on me.
By Thy blessing on the Maccabees, who fasted before the battle, have mercy on me.
By Thy choice of John to go before Thee as the preacher of repentance, have mercy on me.
By Thy testimony to the Publican, who hung his head and smote his breast, have mercy on me.
By Thy welcome given to the returning Prodigal, have mercy on me.
By Thy gentleness with the woman of Samaria, have mercy on me.
By Thy condescension towards Zacchaeus, persuading him to restitution, have mercy on me.
By Thy pity upon the woman taken in adultery, have mercy on me.
By Thy love of Magdalen, who loved much, have mercy on me.
By Thy converting look, at which Peter wept, have mercy on me.
By Thy gracious words to the thief upon the cross, have mercy on me.
I am a sinner, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may judge myself, as to escape Thy judgment, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may bring forth worthy fruits of penance, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That sin may not reign in my mortal body, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may work out my salvation with fear and trembling, I beseech Thee, hear me.
Son of God, I beseech Thee, hear me.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare me, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear me, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on me.
Christ, hear me.
Christ, graciously hear me.
O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto Thee.
Closing prayer
Grant, I beseech Thee, O Lord, to Thy faithful, pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their offenses, and also serve Thee with a quiet mind, through Christ our Lord. Amen.