When I was a kid, I received a lot of corrections from my parents, especially from my mother. Evidently, I did not like to be corrected or to be told “no”. I remember that one time (I must have been seven or eight years old), after receiving a strong correction (I do not remember what I did, but for sure it was big), I told my mom that, from that moment on, I was going to be the son of my aunt, who was very easy going and always let my cousins do whatever they wanted. My mom, understanding the root of my “threat,” very calmly said to me: “No problem at all, be your aunt’s son, but know that I correct you because I love you.” At that moment, I did not get what she said. I was just too upset. For me “to be loved” was to be always told “yes” to everything I wanted and to be allowed to do whatever I pleased.
However, life has proven to me that my mom’s corrections and her being strict with me, helped me immensely in life. In retrospect, I must say that all the spankings, the punishments, the strong rebukes; and all the “no’s” I got from her, were more than merited. Each one of them helped me to mature, to learn, and to avoid going through the wrong path. I can honestly say, at almost half a century of life, that I am grateful for my mom’s corrections and guidance. I can clearly see her maternal love. In like manner, as the first reading clearly says, God corrects and rebukes His children, out of the immense love He has for them!
Immense Love
The reading says: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” How does the Lord discipline us? How does he correct? First of all, He uses His Word to call us back to Himself. Every time we listen to the Word of God, we are offered the opportunity to convert and to turn to the Lord. We are offered the gift to see our lives in light of this Word. And, to ask the Spirit to help us conform to it.
However, many times we do not listen to His word. Or, we take it for granted, just like the people of today’s Gospel. In the Gospel, we see how Jesus’ countrymen, thinking that they knew who Jesus was, either disregarded His teaching and His preaching, or took it for granted. They were probably convinced that they did not need His message. We may run the same risk. We may be so used to listening to the Word of God that we may have difficulties allowing it to call us to conversion and to correct us.
See with Eyes of Faith
Therefore, in order to redirect our lives to Him and discipline us, the Lord uses also the events of our history and the facts of our lives. If we see our lives with eyes of faith, we would be able to recognize that, many times, the sufferings we have endured, the trials we have faced, the consequences of our sins and actions, have been used by God to correct us and to give us a new perspective of Him and of ourselves.
To be sure, the discipline of the Lord may be painful. And, as the reading says: “at the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain.” Our weak nature fails many times to understand the reason behind trials and sufferings. It resists seeing in them anything good. However, assisted by the grace of God, we can see that, when we accept them, they later bring “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” The grace that God has granted us through the paschal mystery of His Son Jesus Christ, has the power to help us to see in our suffering the paternal hand of God, calling us to follow Him and to entrust our lives to Him totally.
Let us ask the Lord for grace to allow Him to correct us and to discipline us. So that we may reap fruits of righteousness and of holiness. Thus, we will be able to live our lives that, in order to help us live eternally with Him. God corrects us out of love!
