God puts up with us. Because of His mercy, he patiently awaits our conversion.

What He desires, while being patient with us, is that we all come to believe in Him and come to eternal life.

The Father desires that we know in our heart of hearts that Jesus is His Son, come to earth, raised up on the cross, who suffered, died, was buried, and Who rose again from the dead. Not only this, but to know that we have life through Him.

Moses was directed to raise a figure of a serpent on a stick so that those who had been poisoned might be cured by looking at it. So God sent His Son to be raised on the cross so that all of us, poisoned by sin, might have life in His light.

My brothers and sisters,

When the chosen people disobeyed God, and not only disobeyed but mocked Him too, God’s righteous anger was raised.

The Second book of Chronicles tells us:

the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.

God allowed the land to go fallow. There was no life in Israel. Life there ceased and all the people were carried off as was their livestock.

For a reality check, picture the State of New York. A beautiful place. Trees, hills and valleys, magnificent cities and farms. Picture it all gone, empty. The farms have gone wild. No person or animal can be found. The cities are empty and burned. No one dares set foot there. All is emptiness and lifelessness.

The time of fallow and exile brought home the reality of life to the Jewish people. Life, and the fullness of life, is in God alone. Life is in doing His will, in living His commandments. God is life and light.

The words of today’s psalm are poignant. The people of Israel cry and bemoan their loss. They sit in Babylon and long for the joy of the Lord in Jerusalem. They long to sing to the Lord once again. But they could only cry and long.

By this process they were formed. They redeemed the fallow land by their penance, and the Lord God relented of His anger.

—Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled.—

And after seventy years, Cyrus, the King of Persia said at God’s command:

Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of His people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!—

Can you imagine the joy? It should be the kind of joy you feel when you go to sleep Saturday night. Tomorrow we go to the House of the Lord.

God has given us nothing but His ultimate gift of love, His Son. He also gives us His infinite patience.

St.Paul tells us:

God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ

Yes, we are alive in Christ Jesus. Alive and preparing ourselves to meet Him. This tremendous gift is not of our doing. For God loves us so much that He allows us an eternity of preparation. He puts up with our transgressions, allowing us to seek His forgiveness. He gives us the grace we need to seek His mercy and to live up to His expectations. This is salvation. The real, living, font of salvation.

Paul tells us here:

For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;

Oh, what a tremendous gift. A gift what we can never be worthy of, a gift for which we can never be thankful enough.

Therefore, let us look upon Him who has been pierced for our offenses. Jesus, who has been sacrificed so that we might be sanctified. Jesus, who has died so that the doors of heaven might be opened to us. Through these open doors flows the bounty of God’s grace, flowing clean and pure into our lives.

Each day and each week, every hour of the day, we must move forward to better live in the light.

Jesus said:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Work then in the light of God, and in cooperation with His grace which strengthens you, bringing you out of darkness. God will put up with us and gives us every opportunity. He has given His Son and His grace for our journey home. Now is the time to accept this gift. In faith say yes to Jesus Christ and choose to live in the light of God.

Amen.