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January 9

New Life for All

The greatness of the work of Christ in his life, suffering, and death is that it had all of humanity in view. Christ’s was no sectarian love, but a boundless redemptive love for the world, so that all things may come to fullness and wholeness.

While we are so limited in our affections, so parochial in our attitudes, and so tribal in our commitments, the towering-yet-humble figure of Christ points us in a very different direction.

His was the way for all. No one, whether great or small, was excluded from the generous love of Christ who made a way for the healing of all of humanity. St. Anselm understood this. He prayed: “Jesus Christ, my dear and gracious Lord, you have shown a love greater than that of any man and which no one can equal, for you in no way deserved to die, yet you laid down your dear life for those who served you and sinned against you.”9

The grace of Christ is both for the religiously faithful and the unfaithful. It is for the irreligious and the pious. It is extended to betrayer and friend; to priest and prostitute; to rabbi and rebel. Both the oppressed and the oppressor need the healing grace of Christ. There is no one who does not need this grace. There is no one who is not welcome.

The wideness of Christ’s love is expressed in the wideness of his mercy. And there is room for all.

Prayer

So dear Lord, may all turn to you and pray, whether saint or sinner,

profligate or virtuous, seeker or skeptic. Amen.