233rd Meditation
“Even if people encounter my ‘wrath’, I want them to know that I love them and call them to conversion” (Inner Word).
“The Lord disciplines the one He loves” (Heb 12:6). Our Father’s intention is always to call us to conversion. If he allows people to feel the consequences of their actions, that is, to encounter His “wrath”, then this too is done out of love, in order to shake them up and awaken them. Sometimes there seems to be no other alternative to turn a person from their evil ways and turn them back to God.
What counts on an individual level, also applies on a general level. When people turn away from God, they fall under the influence of evil spirits, who seek to harm them in every possible way. Our Father wants to preserve them from this, because each individual soul is infinitely precious to Him. If we look at the events of this time from this point of view, we may better understand why the Lord permits the present plagues.
Jesus tells us: “It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell” (Mk 9:47b). In the same way, we could also say: “It is better for us to enter the Kingdom of God under many punishments than to end up in the place of eternal punishment, or even just for a long time in purgatory”. That is why God is also concerned about the most obstinate, so that they will not be condemned. And if the only means to preserve them from perdition is the “rod”, then the “rod of God” is the remedy and a sign of our Father’s love.
Our Father does not want to punish, but to save. But human beings, for their part, must not go beyond the limits that have been set for them, lest they go astray and drag other people down with them. May the Lord rather show us His love by making us feel His “wrath” than allow us to forsake His ways!