Today’s Gospel message does not seem to come from a merciful God. But it is truly out of love for us that Christ tells us what will become of us if we choose a path that leads away from God.

Each of us has been given our own time and place on this earth and the free will to make choices. We are also given the signs that tell us when we need to repent and return to God. How will we recognise them? Just as we understand that vultures only gather where there is dead flesh, just as we now understand the consequences of environmental degradation, so too we should be able to read the signs that point us back to God: an unexplained restlessness, the prompting of conscience, incidents that make us pause and think, chance encounters, reaching rock bottom.

But why wait for this to happen when we have the choice of always remaining in God’s love as John tells us in today’s first reading.