Accountability

In today's first reading, 1 Kings 21: 17-29, God sends the prophet Elijah to Ahab.  He tells Elijah that Ahab "will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession."  God holds Ahab accountable of the death of Naboth!  When Elijah confronts Ahab in God's name, Ahab responds with the question:  "Have you  found me out, my enemy?" "Yes...Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the Lord's sight." Elijah then tells him what the consequences of his behavior will be!

In life and in death, we are told in the Scriptures, we belong to the Lord! Jesus is Lord of the living and of the dead!  When we have died to grace as did Ahab and Jezebel, God cares!  He will awaken our consciences in some way.  Many times He does so through an "Elijah" sent to call us to accountability!  That "Elijah" may be a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend, a peer, a co-worker, our pastor/minister or a total stranger!  God cares! And because God cares, He will hold us accountable for the choices we make! God does not rejoice in someone going astray and will, beyond doubt, seek ways to open our eyes to the evil we may have done or to the fact that we are on a path that leads to our destruction, our unhappiness, our becoming corrupted, deceptive, and a plaything of Satan!

We need to join the psalmist, who, in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 51, prays: "Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. For I acknowledge my offense (which Ahab does), and my sin is before me always: "Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my guilt. Free me from the blood guilt, O God, my saving God; then my tongue shall revel in your justice."

So much evil is being done in the world of today!  In what ways am I complicit of the moral decline around us? Coming closer to home, for what and to whom do I personally need to ask forgiveness today and thereby accept responsibility for the ways in which I did not mirror God's love and caring presence, ways in which I did not enhance life  or make the world in which I live a better place?