We had a priest visiting from Colorado in church today. His sermon was on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. He made the point that really it should have been called the Parable of the Benevolent Father. He said that this is the story that we should draw our image of God from -- one of forgiveness and love.
He took the opportunity to fire a blast at Pat Robertson, who had declared that Haiti was being punished by God for its past sins. He also attacked those who had claimed that Hurricane Katrina was God's way of punishing New Orleans.
This is not the image of God that we should have, he said, of a God that is vindictive and mean. He was actually fuming with anger over this idea of God as using nature to punish humanity for their sins. It was the wrong idea to have about God. For a Catholic service, this was probably the most emotional and energetic sermon I had witnessed ... ever.
God is love. God forgives, and let us be grateful for that.
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