Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 402

We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.
For your name's sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.

Our recent ancestors, the migrants who brought Catholicism to North America, would be amazed that Catholics of the 21st century receive the Eucharist often but rarely attend the Sacrament of Penance. They had learned in early childhood that they were sinners like everyone else, but might receive Communion often if they went to confession as often. 

Unfortunately many of them were so possessed by that doctrine they could not enjoy the graces of both Sacraments; or if they did, the pleasure lasted only a few minutes. The least unpleasant emotion of anger, pleasure, or desire might throw a wet blanket of remorse over their sanctified hearts. We might think we know better than they did, but we must admire the generosity that built enormous churches with spacious high ceilings and splendid windows. Given inflation, our new churches today don't cost half as much, although some are equally beautiful. 

But I digress and must return to Jeremiah's dirge over the Holy City Jerusalem. The several armies of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt punished the Lord's people repeatedly; and the Hebrew prophets understood these incursions as the will of God. There could be no other explanation. And the reason for God's severe judgments could only be the Obvious -- the descendants of Abraham had repeatedly failed to reflect the Holiness of God:

For I, the LORD, am your God. You shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.... Since I, the LORD, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt that I might be your God, you shall be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11: 44-45)

If we enjoy relative peace today, we should not suppose it's because we reflect the Holiness of God better than our Jewish ancestors. It's said -- and I believe -- that every age is violent. However, modern societies have learned to isolate violence better than earlier nations -- with stronger prisons, guarded national boundaries, and an effective, omnipresent threat to citizens who misbehave. 

In the atmosphere of today's social polarizations and deep anxiety, it doesn't take much to trigger severe penalties from an apparently benevolent society. Many suspicious-looking persons have been killed by nervous law enforcement. And the killers were shown the same lenience as the invading soldiers of ancient Assyria and Babylon. 

Throughout the scriptures we hear Jeremiah's refrain: 

We recognize, 

O LORD, our wickedness,

the guilt of our fathers;

that we have sinned against you.

With the practice of frequent confession, Catholics remember that we are like our ancestors, both devout and sinful; and must plead continually for God's guidance and protection in an increasingly violent world. We are still God's holy people and must take that responsibility seriously.