If you listen to the devil and become evil, expect a story of woe
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Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.
By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor
A reflection on the daily readings by Father Perry for Tuesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
+ “Stories of Woe”: Surely they have one great purpose. It is not to tell the future, but rather, to prevent the future.
The prophets were the pros in telling the woe stories to try with every prophetic word they spoke to change hearts, to change minds, to change attitudes, to change ways of acting and living. In short, to change or prevent the future from happening.
So God, sorry, you had to be the villain in these matters. Only an all-powerful God had to create catastrophic circumstances that no one could alter or lessen or prevent.
Only such an all-powerful God could do these things — an all-powerful God whose name was so mighty, that perhaps the only thing that would placate this God would be to say over and over and over and over, “For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.”
+ What a picture! What a story! What a future! What a woe!
+ Dang! You better change the way you live and act or else.
The truth is in the big prophetic picture: “Turn away from sin!”
+ There is another great truth staring us in the face in today’s readings — it is the Gospel truth!
Seeds and weeds get sown — even evil ones.
The devil is everywhere and he is a mess! And if you listen to the devil and become evil, then expect a story of woe.
In fact, this story of woe will be so bad, that you can only expect to be “thrown into a fiery furnace where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth — forever.”
Even the prophets could not beat this story of woe. And its purpose? To get us to hear the truth, see the truth, believe the truth, and allow the truth of the Gospel to change our hearts, to change our minds, to change our attitudes, to change our ways of acting and living.
In short, to change or prevent the future from happening. That means a big no to the fiery furnace and a big yes to grace, to life, to love, to good seeds, to fruitfulness, and blessings.
My prayer, Lord, is that I will have the ears to hear.
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 14th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
