The choice that affects our destiny
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6. March 9, 2023 - Thursday, 2nd Week of Lent
The writer of Psalm 1 agrees with the prophet Jeremiah that there are two types of people: those who trust in themselves and those who trust in God. The famous or infamous French Revolution is credited with replacing God with humanity. The infamous sex revolution of the sixties of the last century abolished Christian virtue and propriety.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD” (Jer. 17:5). Europe is ageing and the Christian population is declining. Is Jeremiah’s curse going to become true in the case of a continent that once brought faith to others? On the other hand, Christianity is growing outside of Europe. Out of 2.4 billion Christians in the world, 1.7 billion are non-European Christians and out of 1.3 billion Catholics, more than 1 billion are non-European. Most of them are poor and persecuted, so what makes them grow?
The psalmist says that the one who mediates on God’s Torah is like a tree planted near running water. The original word indicates that the tree is planted in a place where two streams of water join together to form a river. Such a tree is assured of a constant supply of water. The same metaphor is used by Jeremiah for the one who trusts in the Lord. Such a person does not cease to bear fruit (see Jer. 17:7-8).
While visiting small chapels and hidden communities in some Asian countries, I always find the image of Divine Mercy with its message of trust: “Jesus, I trust in You”. There is also a hunger for God’s word among those Christians. They are being nourished by the word of God during the Eucharist but many would like to have their copy of the Bible which is often unavailable or forbidden. These people believe in the goodness and power of God and try to conduct their lives according to his commandments.
Thus, there are only two choices in life. There is the hard way of the Gospel that leads to life and the easy and wide way of sin that leads to destruction (see Matt 7:13-14). Our choice determines our eternal destiny. The Western world seems to choose the easy way of sin and many Christians decided to follow. How about us?