"A Time to Die" to Being Judgmental

In today's first reading, Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11,  the author states that there is "a time to be born and a  time to die."  The thought came to me that, given what is happening in the world of our day,  it is especially the time to die to judging others.  For instance, it is easy to point fingers at those involved in the nomination of a new justice to the Supreme Court, or to judge the President or members of congress or of the  Senate or leaders anywhere in the world or to judge those who do not embrace the political party in which we believe.  However, when we have a finger pointing at others, three fingers are pointing at ourselves.  The sinner that we need to convert, so to speak, is ourselves, not other persons. The Lord rejoices over one sinner repenting of his/her sin; let that one sinner be myself!  May I change from being the publican boasting of not being like that person over there to being the one who is saying to God:  "Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I have sinned."  God's mercy is infinite!  God's arms are open to embrace the sinner, as the father of the prodigal son embraced his son upon his return to him after a life of debauchery and sinful pleasures.  May I be that prodigal son/daughter!

Acknowledging our Wrongdoing

Today's first reading, Daniel 9: 4b-10, presents the following prayer:  Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments!  We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from our commandments and laws.  We have not obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, your [ancestors], and all the people of the land. Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: we, the men  [and women] of Judah [of the U.S.A.], the residents of Jerusalem [citizens of the U.S.A.] ...."    

Without knowing it, perhaps, we are sinning by our choice to build walls between ourselves and other nations, by deporting undocumented immigrants, separating children from their parents, by increasing the wealth of the wealthy at the expense of the poor, possibly denying 10s of millions of people health insurance, by perpetuating lies in efforts to hide our own sinful behaviors, by pushing forth our own promises to assumedly  win accolades for keeping our promises when those violate the rights of others.

Daniel goes on to say in later verses of today's first reading:  O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our [ancestors], for having sinned against you! But yours, O Lord,  our God, are compassion and forgiveness! Yet we have rebelled against you and paid no heed to your command, O Lord, our God, to live the law you gave us through your servants the prophets.

Those laws still hold today! The lack of compassion on the part of those governing this nation and those who support their executive orders and legislation is a disgrace.  Have mercy on us and on them, Lord, for "they know not what they are doing" (Jesus' words from the cross)!

Look upon Your Sin and upon Him Whom You Have Pierced by the Evil You Have Done

Today’s first reading, Numbers 21: 4-9, recounts the story of the bronze serpent which Moses made. When the people gazed upon the  serpent, the very animal which caused the death of so many of them, it  had no more power over them even though they had been bitten and its poison was in their bodies.   There is a great lesson here for all of us.  We, too, have been bitten by Satan. Sin dwells within us. To rid ourselves of the power of sin, we also need to gaze upon it, recognize its presence in our lives, and acknowledge that we have been “bitten,” that is we have sinned. Naming the sin, being honest with ourselves and others of how we have gone astray, takes away the power of that sin to possess us, blind us, or deafen us to the Spirit’s presence, power, and influence in our lives.  To turn from evil and do good we need to acknowledge the evil that we either did or contemplate doing.   Through that confession, we are open to our dependence upon grace, upon being open and honest in our dealings with others and with the Lord. Then, we can go with Jesus into the Promised Land of mercy, goodness, and love now and forever.  We are then imitating Jesus who says, in today’s Gospel, John 8: 21-30, “I always do what is pleasing to him [the Father].” And just as Jesus was about to return to the Father, from whom He came to save the world, so, too, we will be able to return to our Father, to the God of truth and justice both here and hereafter..

Look upon Him Whom You have Pierced

In today’s first reading, Numbers 21: 4-9, the Chosen People complain bitterly against God and Moses for bringing them out  into the desert.  “Why,” they ask, “have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food.”  Sound familiar? Every day, no doubt, there is something /someone about whom to grumble  and to bitterly proclaim our disgust.  Winter hangs on. Spring holds back!  Another tornado hits. A mudslide buries homes in a nearby State. Another shooting occurs. War breaks out. Another individual goes astray.  Another crime is exposed to the light.  The list goes on and on and on. Or we may be complaining of less weightier things that are part of daily life: the computer bulks when I am in a hurry to get to something done. The printer breaks down in the middle of an important print job. The battery goes dead on the car when I am rushing to get home, the brakes give out. The kids are screaming for attention when I’m busy. The TV blocks a Packer game, etc. etc., etc.

God was not oblivious of the people’s grumbling, discontent, rebelliousness.  He understood their anger but He also held them accountable.   “In punishment the Lord sent among the people seraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.”   When the people cried out for mercy and acknowledged their sin, the Lord instructed Moses to [m]ake a seraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever look[ed] on it after being bitten….[lived]. The punishment for our sinfulness was the death of Jesus. He became sin for us.  All who look upon the cross of Christ and ask for mercy are saved  both here on earth and in eternity from everlasting death, from being separated from the Lord forever.  Truly the “Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners [all of us enslaved to sinful patterns of behavior and to destructive attitudes that precede our acts of rebellion against God and others].” He offers His only Begotten Son, allowing Him to become sin  for us in order “to release those doomed to die” (today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 102), to bring us to a new way of living and thinking, a way that transforms misery into happiness, frustration into joy, rebellion into cooperation, death into life.
Oh, the goodness of our God. What an awesome God! What a merciful God! What a compassionate God!