Reflection for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)
The coming season of Lent marks an appropriate time for today’s reflection on sin.
The word most often translated as “sin” in the Hebrew Scriptures is the verb “hata” [ חטאה ] which literally means “to miss” or “to fail.” In the context of the culture at that time, the noun “sin” thus refers to a “failure in fulfilling a duty” or a “failure in a social agreement” as a result of the former.
Within the religious context of Judaism, the definition of “sin” places greater emphasis on the duty of devout Jews to strictly abide – for the sake of spiritual discipline – by the six-hundred thirteen commandments of the Mosaic Law, and to observe harmonious human relations. It is interesting to note that under their religious traditions, it has been made more challenging to atone for offenses against others than for offenses against God.
The reading from the prescriptions of Leviticus depicting the social obligation and the priestly function of declaring under specific circumstances if a person is “unclean”; and of ensuring compliance from the one so unfortunately afflicted to announce their malady and to be separated from the rest of the community, may seem harsh under our present-day standards on inclusivity.
But the Levitical material must be understood from the desire of an ancient and nomadic people who having experienced liberation from slavery through God, continues to aspire for a perpetual oneness with their Liberator, fulfilled mainly through the obedience of the community to a sacred and orderly way of life.
For a faithful Jew therefore, “orderliness and cleanliness are the paths to holiness.” So, if a member of the community is showing signs of a deviation from this “orderliness,” either through a known transgression or an unexplained illness, mutual responsibility – for the good of the larger community striving for divine oneness – requires the “unclean” member to be separated, and to volunteer to be separated from it. The act of helping to keep the community “pure” by constantly guarding oneself as well as admonishing others against “impurities” is an act of charity!
Hence, this reading must be interpreted only from our need to recognize the importance for any ecclesiological framework to qualify what it considers to be a “sin” which fundamentally for most religious traditions is a “failure in fulfilling a duty” not only towards the Spirit, but towards others as well.
Any church without necessarily intending discrimination and discord between the conscientious and the disobedient, must have a clear understanding of what it deems to be a “failure” in the exercise of its beliefs. Obscuring the boundaries of morality may appear to be a triumph of individual liberties, but in fact, is a damaging defeat for mutual accountability: a solid sense of “sin” stresses the limits of personal rights with social responsibility; a solid sense of “sin” is vital to the building up of the kingdom of God.
Most contemporary theological positions agree that “sin” as an ethical concept, is an act performed with both the free consent and adequate awareness of the erring agent of its adverse moral consequences. A sinful act therefore signifies that such a conscious “failure” implies an inordinate disposition of the heart: a human action of negligence, indifference, greed or violence reveals a spirit unmoved by charity.
It is thus the task of the Church to clearly delineate that as Christians, we must ensure that our daily actions are animated not by pride and self-centeredness, but by a fraternal love directed towards justice, service and peace. Restoration from sinfulness to which only the Church can properly attest, must – following Zacchaeus – begin with an acknowledgment of one’s failure to love, and must be sustained with sincere efforts at correcting its consequences.
Paul even strongly suggests that all our actions must be animated by an interiorized yearning to glorify God through Christ’s example. Not only must one strive not to offend one’s neighbors, but driven by compassion, to try to help them in their time of dire need. He exhorts us to always work first for the common good before thinking of obtaining individual advantages. The sin of indifference carries the same moral weight as the sin of violence.
On the other hand, also through Christ’s example, the Gospel reading underscores the need for compassion, mercy and forgiveness. For the evangelists, the witness of Jesus’ healings reveals the God who is just as broken-hearted for the one who sinned, as the one who is broken-hearted for having sinned. It reveals the God who wishes for all of creation to be restored to its rightful state, and whose primary concern is the realization of his kingdom not by coercion nor force, but by a willful choice of all people to love and to be responsible for one another. So, it is also the task of the Church that though it has the right to declare what acts it considers to be sinful or not, it has the commensurate responsibility to uplift the sinner.
The Psalms have consistently proclaimed the Lord to be our refuge in times of distress over our failure to love, and the injustice it engenders. He is the hope for our renewal and eventual salvation, and so our appeals for redemption lies solely in the sacred hands whose wounds conquered sin and death.
Therefore, our Lord can rightfully caution us that if we are not flexible in giving fellow sinners the hope of divine redemption through the human oppression of a condemning ecclesiastical structure, then God himself will be seen as “closed” and “unforgiving.” Though the Church is tasked to maintain discipline in the profession and application of our beliefs, and to encourage self-control, it must remind itself to remain as a testimony to the reality that God lives among us: It must also be open and merciful, and prepared to serve as his instrument to welcome back and embrace those who have fallen.
Brother Jess Matias is a professed brother of the Secular Franciscan Order. He serves as minister of the St. Pio of Pietrelcina Fraternity at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Mandaluyong City, coordinator of the Padre Pio Prayer Groups of the Capuchins in the Philippines and prison counselor and catechist for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS.news.
Source: Licas Philippines
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