Woe to you! Today we hear Jesus speak out against the nations who are living for themselves and not for God. Many of us can get pretty down and negative about the world we live in and how secular and indifferent so many are to the Good News. I think what we must take into account is that now there are two and three generations who haven’t really heard the Good News. They have some kind of idea of “Christian” which usually isn’t very positive. They have pre-conceived ideas of what Christianity is and who Jesus Christ is; and neither Church or Jesus is very compelling at all. I would contend that if this is the case, then we are living in a world that isn’t even really Christian, and so perhaps what we would once have referred to as pagan. It’s not that Jesus didn’t speak again invincible paganism, but when He calls out those who are eternally damned, He is calling out those who have chosen to ignore His Divine Word.

Now this doesn’t mean that there’s no accountability, but the Lord works out the plan of salvation directly with those who haven’t received His Word and Deed because of no fault of their own. Instead, this is a Gospel that should be a rallying cry for us all. This is rallying cry that “we might go out to all nations and make disciples”. This is our vocation, but this is what we do when we believe that Jesus will condemn anyone, we try to help them. Let us consider today how we might help our brothers and sisters who might be in a woeful state, and until we do we have work to do. May God bless you.