Reflections of Caritas

“You have mercy on all, because you can do all things…” – Wisdom 11:23

I often wonder why the Lord is so patient and forgiving. I make many of the same mistakes, and commit many of the same sins, over and over again – perhaps you can relate. 

God is like our all-start teammate.

Yet, there He is, ready and willing to pick us up and dust us off after we have fallen down. This magnificent mercy is hard to grasp. God is perfect. He has every right to demand perfection from us, but for some reason, He gives us a second chance. And a third, and a fourth, and so on. 

I think that too often we have the wrong mindset about how God operates. We think of God as a coach and ourselves as players, trying to make the team. So, with every mounting mistake we become more and more worried about getting cut from the squad. If we don’t measure up to the coach’s standard of perfection, then he’ll simply kick us off the team and out to the curb. 

There is a kernel of truth in that assessment, but I think it is more apt to say that God is less like the coach and more like our all-star teammate. He’s not looking for reasons to cut us. He’s not analyzing our every flaw. He is playing His game and trying to lead us to victory. In the Person of Jesus Christ, He gives us the model of perfection to which we must aspire and an example of excellence to follow. He works to help us improve and practices with us so that we get better. 

Can you imagine a professional football player berating a child at a youth football camp for dropping a pass? Of course not! Any real all-star would probably laugh off the mistake and show the kid how to do better next time. Our All-Star Teammate does not scoff at us with indignation when we make a mistake. He takes compassion on us, because He knows that it is not as easy for us as it is for Him. When it comes to holiness, He is the professional and we are just kids learning how to catch a ball. 

Indeed, the Lord can do all things, and He knows we can’t, which is why He is so merciful to you and me. Thanks be to God!

Merciful Father, your patience gives us hope. May the grace of the Holy Spirit and the example of Your Son help perfect our practice of the virtue of charity. Amen.