The deacon at my home parish said during his homily, “The salvation is already done. The judgement is already done.”
When I heard this, my first thought for some reason was, “oh so it’s already done. Why are we all still going to confession then? Why do we worry so much about ensuring we do not receive the Eucharist until we have gone to confession?” Maybe it was just the way he said it, because it was said in such a nonchalant way.
But when I heard the rest, which was, “Just love everyone as God loved you. If someone has wronged your or you have wronged the Lord, you have nothing to worry about, except to love more,” it was an affirmation of our mission here on earth. It was a reminder that Jesus died so we can have eternal salvation, therefore, God’s love is eternal, therefore, our pursuit of Christ should be never ending and our ability to love should be never ending.
In order for us to truly love one another, we need to be repentant, just as we are called to do so, in Mark 1:15, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”