A recent
poll
identified some of the things 18 year olds are clueless about. These
include: LPs, Swanson’s TV dinners; transistor radios; slide rules; a “Glide-o-Matic”
transmission shift;
and, party-line telephones. Another poll identified some things
Catholics under 40 years of age are clueless about. These include:
benediction; a monstrance; low and high masses; ferial and votive
masses; midnight fast; black vestments; and, the answer to “Dominus
vobiscum.” [When told, they believe the answer is the Pope’s private telephone number:
“Et cum spirit tu tuo.”]
While the
immediate impact of Vatican II on those of us over 40 years of age
was the change in the way we conducted worship, the Council’s
long-range impact on those under 40 years of age (and of future generations,
too) has been a growing awareness that God has personally called all
of the baptized to be “a light to the nations.” In the Council’s
document on the laity, Vatican II reminded all the People of God that
God has personally called and entrusted each of them with a
mission to be that “light to the nations.”
That’s a catchy
phrase and it sums up succinctly our moral obligations. God
has personally called each of us—in our own unique and unrepeatable
way in all of human history—to be the light that breaks through the
darkness, to illuminate what would otherwise remain hidden and, in
this way, to bring about reconciliation and healing. But,
today’s readings from scripture define that personal vocation in a way that
very well may provoke us to feel quite a bit uncomfortable.
Perhaps much of the reason we may feel uncomfortable is because we
live in a society not only where “anything goes” because
“everybody’s doing it” but also in a society in which being critical
of others’ behavior—even if it is morally reprehensible behavior—is believed to be
“politically incorrect.”
In today’s first
reading, the prophet Ezekiel speaks directly to our personal
vocations and mission to be this light to the nations. What Ezekiel says
is that we
are to be “watchmen.” This is where feeling uncomfortable
begins.
In ancient days,
cities erected thick walls with towering ramparts to protect
themselves from barbarian invaders bent on the city’s destruction.
The watchman’s duty was to be vigilant standing high in the rampart,
keeping an eye out for potential threats, and warning the city
whenever a potential threat loomed on the horizon. Due to the
darkness, it was especially difficult duty for the night watchman.
Nevertheless, any failure to keep watch and to warn the city
whenever one loomed on the horizon portended the potential
destruction of the city and death for the watchman.
Remaining
vigilant for potential enemies is certainly an important matter,
politically speaking. But, remaining vigilant for potential
moral enemies is a far more important matter, spiritually speaking.
Listening to
Ezekiel, God has personally called husbands and wives in a unique
and unrepeatable way in all of human history to perfect each another
in holiness. As parents, God has personally called moms and dads in
a unique and unrepeatable way in all of human history to teach
children about the moral dangers they will face and must overcome.
And, in the workplace, God has called each of us in a unique and
unrepeatable way in all of human to give witness to what it means to
be a Catholic in the real world.
This expanded
notion of vocation, one of a “personal vocation” through which we
give a unique and unrepeatable witness in all of human history to
our Catholic faith is something those of us over 40 years of age
never really thought much about! For us, “vocation” meant being
married, ordained, or single. But, as watchmen, God calls us
personally to be on the alert to potential moral adversaries that
threaten the well-being of other people. It could be a spouse’s
well-being, a child’s well-being, even the well-being of one’s boss
and co-workers.
However, being a
watchman does not mean being
“busy bodies.”
Nor does it mean sitting
in judgment on others.
What being a
watchman does
mean is carefully observing, contemplating, and most of all,
whenever we foresee a moral danger, speaking up and sounding the
alarm. Any failure to do so, Ezekiel reminds us, leads to death.
Not only the death of others and potentially the community as well
but also our own death.
As part of her
act, the
comedienne Joan Rivers leans into the microphone and towards her
audience and asks, “Can we be honest with one another?”
Who wants
to confront a spouse whose immoral behavior threatens to destroy not
only one’s marriage and security but also one’s family? But, drugs
and alcohol, an uncontrolled temper and violent behavior, as well as
participating in pornography and fornication do present moral
dangers to a marriage. Spouses must speak up about and sound the
alarm, that is, if they truly love their spouse.
Who wants
to visit with estranged relatives and discuss what has caused the
estrangement, led to ill will, and ruined far too many holidays?
But, malice, arrogance, jealousy, and envy do present moral dangers.
Family members must speak up about and sound the alarm, that
is, if they truly love the members of their extended family.
Who wants
to discipline a teenager whose opinions about or flagrant violation
of fundamental moral matters like deceit, alcohol, drugs, and
illicit sex threaten not only to destroy the family’s well-being but
also to destroy that teenager? But, when a teenager “tap dances on
the trap door of temptation,” parents must speak up and sound the
alarm, that is, if they truly love their child.
Who wants
to discuss with the importance of faith and its regular practice
with parents who are wishy-washy about the practice of
their faith, who do not regularly attend Sunday mass with their
children, and are not catechizing them? But, when parents fail in
their moral responsibility to be the first and best teachers of the
faith to their children, godparents must speak up and sound the
alarm, that is, if they truly love their godchild. Likewise,
grandparents must
speak up and sound the alarm, that is, if they truly love their
grandchild.
Isn’t it much
easier to remain silent, especially after we’ve been rebuked and
rebuffed or even scorned and mocked for speaking up and sounding the alarm
when we’ve foreseen or confronted someone else about a grave moral
danger? The truth be told, nobody wants to be a
watchman and to speak up and sound the alarm about
moral dangers, potential or actual.
It’s more
convenient to close our eyes and to hope that a spouse will change,
that relatives will come to our front doors, grovel before us, and
admit their failure, that a teenager will be miraculously
transformed, or that parents will have an epiphany and practice the
faith they professed when they were married and brought their
children for the Sacrament of Baptism. Having been personally
called by God to be watchmen, however, we have no choice when this
is not the case. Even if we don’t want to, we need to
speak up and to sound the alarm—to be a light to the nations—about
the moral dangers we foresee. How could anyone of us possibly
justify remaining silent when the consequence of our being morally
mute is moral
death?
Ezekiel reminds
us that when we do speak up and sound the alarm about the moral
dangers we foresee, God will not hold us responsible if others fail
to respond. It is when we fail to respond to our personal vocations
by not speaking up and not sounding the alarm about moral dangers we
foresee that God will hold us personally responsible:
…[If] you do not speak
out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for
his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if
you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses
to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save
yourself.
To fulfill our
personal vocations so that God will not hold us responsible for not
speaking up and for not sounding the alarm, today’s gospel offers a
pathway for us to consider when we need to deal with the moral
dangers we foresee. Like Ezekiel’s charge to be watchmen, this
pathway very well may provoke us to feel quite a bit uncomfortable.
First, we are to
go to the person and attempt to resolve the issue by upholding God’s
moral law without demeaning the other person.
St. Augustine once
wrote, “Hate the sin but love the sinner.” While confronting
another person’s
potential or real moral failure
certainly isn’t easy—it
does require great courage—doing so demonstrates great love of God and neighbor as we honor another
person’s dignity and allow that individual an opportunity to
explain oneself. An honest explanation might cast light upon what
may have been a misunderstanding and the case is now closed. Or,
when confronted with the truth, that person may actually say, “I’m
truly sorry, I don’t
know why I did it, but I will never do that again.” Once again, the
case is closed, as long as the person amends his or her ways.
Confronting a
moral failure, then, demonstrates great courage and great love
because it opens the door to forgiveness. As Christ told his
disciples in today’s
gospel, “...whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
However, if confronting
the individual privately fails to bring about healing and
reconciliation, today’s gospel tells us, second, that we are then to
go to the person once again. But, this time, we are to bring
another person who can confirm what we’ve observed and, at the same
time, who can also extend forgiveness and reconciliation. As
Jesus said to his disciples:
Again, amen, I say
to you, if two or you agree on earth about anything for which they
are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I
in the midst of them.
Once
again, the goal of confronting another person about a potential or
real moral failure is not to “prove” this person’s moral failure.
No, the goal is spiritual, that is, to offer the opportunity for that individual to
see the truth and to amend one’s
behavior. At the same time, however, this also requires that
we provide all of
the
support that is needed so that this individual, now aware of one’s
failure and desirous of amending one’s behavior, will change.
We all know that change isn’t
easy; it's not enough to point out moral failures, to forgive and,
then, to expect change. No, it’s essential that we also
provide all of the support an individual will need to make that
change permanent in one’s soul.
If these two
steps fail, then—and only then—today’s gospel says “bring in the
Church.” That is, bring in all of the moral resources that the
faith community possesses in order to help bring about healing and
reconciliation for an individual whose moral failure has entrapped
this person in evil’s snares.
As difficult as
it is, it is sometimes necessary to break the boundaries of privacy
and to intrude into another’s
life. This is nowhere more important than when moral failure
is an established fact. But, all of our sincere efforts to
help an individual recognize one’s moral failure and to offer
forgiveness to that individual may fail. It then takes the
strength of a courage and love that is present only in a community
of faith to confront moral failure. Why? Because the power of
evil has so blinded this individual not only to the truth of one’s
moral failure but also to the impact that one’s sin is having not
only upon individual lives but also the life of the faith community
as well! This “communitarian dimension” of sin mandates that
the community of faith and all of its members muster up the courage
and love it will take to confront moral failure.
Looking at this
model—which requires that all of us are honest and forthright about
speaking up and sounding the alarm when we become aware of a
potential or actual moral
failure—who of us would want to go in alone and confront the person?
It takes an awful lot of courage and love to do that. And, judging simply from human behavior, many of us
lack courage and love because we find it much
easier to gossip, to sling innuendos, to backstab, or better yet, to
ignore that person by turning a cold shoulder.
Who ever would
want to solicit another person and bring that individual in to
confront the person?
It takes an awful lot of courage and love to do that. And, judging simply from human behavior, many of us
lack courage and love
because we find it easier to form cliques of like-minded and judgmental
people who balkanize marriages, families, and workplaces into
warring factions.
And, who ever
would want to bring in the Church? Once again,
judging simply from human behavior, many of us
lack courage and love
because many of us find it preferable to
keep things private and to pay lawyers, psychologists, and social
workers to do the work of confronting those who have failed from a
moral point of view. This certainly does present an
interesting situation: many of us would rather that phobias, neuroses, and dysfunctional
behavior be admitted to paid therapists than by seeking out a priest who can help this
person admit to sin and flaws in their moral characters and heal
them in the Sacrament of Penance…all for free!
Unfortunately,
all of those behaviors are sinful on our part in that we’re demonstrating neither love of God nor neighbor.
And that’s
to say nothing of the fact that we’re also
neglecting the
pathway Jesus instructs his disciples to follow in today’s gospel.
Polls most
likely would find that most of us—whether we’re under 40 years of age or
older than 40 years of age—don’t want to do what Jesus
recommends it takes in today’s gospel if we are to respond wholeheartedly to our
personal vocations and to be a light to the nations by speaking up
and sounding the alarm about potential or real moral failure. But, as St.
Paul reminded us in this morning’s epistle, we need to do
what Jesus recommends. Why? Because it is a debt we owe
one another—a debt of love—one we owe to each other because each and
everyone of us has already been forgiven by God in Christ Jesus.
A brief commercial
break...
Although
it may seem a bit premature for me to be making this announcement,
Advent is just around the corner!
Each
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Grandparents might consider purchasing a copy for themselves and copies
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