This past weekend I had a terrible cold and was unable to get a homily recorded that could actually be understood. I can only imagine how difficult it was to try and hear it. But several people did mention enjoying it, although at a certain point, I do not know how earnest that statement really is. But here is what I tried to say:
The first reading, which was from Ezekiel, gives us a beautiful consideration about the fairness or unfairness of God. I have heard on many occasions that the Church is in danger of becoming irrelevant, and that if the Church does not “get with the times” it will soon fade into nothingness and obscurity. However, I have been reading that criticism of the Church from sources that go back as far as 1700 years. The Church is constantly considered on the brink of becoming useless and outdated, yet the Church has outlasted every critic and nation, so it bears to reason that perhaps the Church has more than some might wish to give it credit.

To be fair, one of the challenges the Church faces is that it stands for something. Because the Church stands on a moral principle, it runs the risk of being attacked for standing for something. And if any members within the Church fail to live up to that moral standard, there is more outcry against the Church. To be sure, there should be outcry if the Church fails to maintain its own standard, but the answer is not to give up, but rather to do better.

The challenge with having and upholding morals is that being good and upright takes work. It does not always come easily to be morally upstanding, but that does not mean we should compromise simply because the alternative takes effort. Yet there are some who cry outrage against the Church for being unfair and denying some people God after deciding that they do not wish to live by the standards expected of everyone else. So first a person refuses to live by a standard, and then decries the Church for being denied the rewards. I see this comparing to a child who refuses to do any homework or study, and then becomes upset and complains when they do not receive an A in that class.

The other example that comes to mind is one of Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club is a fine story, with competitive prices on many items, yet they refuse to let me shop there. I mean sure, I refuse to get a membership and I dig my heels in at the idea of paying for membership, but they are being monsters because they will not let me shop at their store. What nerve!

I guess what I am trying to say is that if we want to go to heaven, it is not unreasonable that God would expect something from us in order to go there. After all, heaven is God’s home. So if we live a life that reflects our desire to go there; if we work on becoming virtuous and overcome vice. If we practice charity and are obedient to the commandments, then it stands to reason that we should have a reasonable expectation of heaven where we spend eternity with God. However, if we spend our time here on earth always putting something else in place of God, and insist that we do not wish to live into God’s commandments and not give any of our time to God, why should we expect God to make us live with Him after we die. After all, if we spend our lives trying to be away from God, then it stands to simple reason that God would allow us to spend eternity the same way: without God. That is how Hell is described, without God. How is God being unfair?

And if we wish to consider truly the idea of “fair” and God, let us face it, God is not fair. God unfairly allowed us to come into existence without consulting how we were to be made, He unfairly gave a paradise to live in and be fruitful without us ever having merited such, and then when we rejected His gifts, He unfairly gave us His only begotten Son whom we crucified, so that we might have life and have it to the fullest.

He unfairly gave us a Church to administer sacraments, each one a great example of God unfairly trying to help us with something we do not deserve. From baptism marking us as His children, to confession allowing us to be reconciled with God after we mess up time and again, to the Eucharist where we receive God Himself so that we might be strengthened to live that life of virtue He asks of us.

Ultimately, yes, God is unfair, but I am not sure it the the kind of unfair we should really be protesting.

God Bless