Jn.3: 14-21
One of the final courses that we had recently was Eschatology. It is the theology of last things addressing the issue: ‘What happens to us after our death?’ We have attended number of courses during the past three years. However, this course provided lots of new insight for our life journey. I am grateful to our professor who prompted us to think serious on these last things of our life. If not for his experiential teaching, it could have been something superficial because teachings on death, judgment, heaven, hell or purgatory are based on faith dimension. At the end of the course, we all convinced that there is life after life… During the course, he quoted one of his moving pastoral experiences.
Once he got a chance to visit a country. As soon as he reached there, he had to make himself available for a very special case. He was requested to visit a criminal in the prison. Why he was asked because none of the priests or religious of that locality were not willing to visit this person because of the heinous crime this person had committed. The event goes thus: one day the fire security force was called to put down the fire in a residence. When they entered the house to rescue the inmates they were stunned by the cold blood murder of two innocent babies and beside them mother was bleeding to death. They rushed the mother to the hospital and saved her.
Nevertheless, the saddest part of the story was yet to come. They began the enquiry and found out the shocking news that the murder of the babies was none other than their own mother. She was broken up with her boyfriend and she wanted to end everything. She was sentenced for the double life sentence. Therefore, she may not come out of the prison in her lifetime. Our professor agreed to meet this young woman in the prison as per the request of a Christian charity oragnization. He too was anxious and prepared a lot to meet this woman. At last the moment came. Both were seated in the two different glass cabins face to face and they could speak to each other over the phone. As soon as she met him, the question that she asked was ‘where would be my children?’ ‘Are they in hell?’ He told her that they are in heaven. They wanted you also to be there. Having heard this she wept bitterly for a long time. He consoled her with his kind words. He accepted her as his spiritual daughter. He told us that he is trying to meet her again if God wills.
After listening this incident, one of our colleagues posed this question to him: Even though she is in the prison and undergoing punishment for her crime, the reality of being the murderer of her children remains. She has to face God’s judgment, then how can you console her? He told that he helped her to make confession. He explained to us the pitiable situation that she passes through. She lives each moment with tremendous amount of guilt. If she gets an opportunity, she would end her life because of the severe isolation and mode of punishment that she undergoes in the prison. Jesus extended unconditional forgiveness to tax collector Matthew, Zacchaeus , the woman caught in adultery, the good thief etc. then who are we to condemn her?
Jesus came to this world not to condemn us but to help us to reconcile us with God. The sin and its effect is a reality. Jesus begins his ministry exhorting people to repent and believe. St. John the Baptist presents Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We see from the very beginning the struggle between life and death, light and darkness. God wanted us to choose life and light. However, he gave us freedom to choose, but fragile human nature chose darkness over light and death over life. We see this reality around us. God has all the possible rights to condemn and destroy us because the punishment of sin is death.
When his own son was on the cross, he had to allow this reality to happen. He had to experience the sting of death. He had to condemn sin in the flesh of his son and had to abandon him because “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.” (Jn. 3:16) Dear friends season of Lent is also a time to reflect on this unconditional love of God that saved all of us from the divine condemnation. When we repent over our sin, we restored to life. It is not a free process instead Jesus paid it for our ransom through his suffering and death on the cross he. Mother Theresa used to say: ‘If we condemn others, we will have no time to love them.’ Let us not condemn our fellow brethren, especially those who went astray from the Lord, let us entrust them to his merciful heart that they may experience true contrition and come back to the Lord.