Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

Lectionary: 470

For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus....


In American jurisprudence we suppose the accused is innocent until proven guilty. No one should be imprisoned who is not demonstrably guilty; consequently many criminals inhabit our streets, schools and businesses because their crimes were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We believe it's better that a guilty man go free than an innocent person be hanged. 
Unfortunately that presumption of innocence spreads like oil on water into our religious thinking. "I too am innocent before God! And so is anyone that I don't particularly hate!" To hear stories of the deceased at a funeral you would think we're burying a saint. We should initiate proceedings for her canonization!
We often hear about "innocent victims" of crime. Whenever people are murdered, especially in an unprovoked slaughter such as we saw in Las Vegas two weeks ago, we hear stories of their innocence.
They were defenseless; and they certainly didn't deserve the punishment they suffered. No one has the right to kill anyone, nor does any society or state. Victims should seek redress for wrongs they have unjustly suffered. 
But no one is innocent. Not children, not adults, not seniors or the disabled. Nor aliens nor minorities. "For there is no distinction. All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God." 
That is the doctrine of Original Sin. We're born into it.
Lots of people are more than happy to inherit the privileges of wealth and class. Born in a certain place they suppose, "This land is my land." as if ownership comes with birth. These rights are not challenged. 
But they are not so eager to inherit the guilt of their ancestors, genetic, racial, religious, national or cultural.To paraphrase Job, "We accept good things from the past, and should we not accept the bad?"

This reluctance to accept all of one's inheritance has been around for a very long time. The Prophet Ezekiel heard the people's complaint, "Parents eat sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge." God's reply was a threat to punish everyone for his own sin regardless of his ancestor, which did not sound like good news.

Our Jewish/Christian tradition reminds us that history is real, as are traditions of sin. They don't go away because we wish they would. Reminded of these burdens, many readily agree with Dedalus's complaint, "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." (Sorry, Steven! It doesn't work that way.)

So here's the good news: the Gospel of Jesus Christ promises total and complete salvation, and that includes our history. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus....
If the Lord's blessing were confined only to our present lives, Jesus would have to die again and again in every age:

It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever.

Our tradition is realistic. It teaches us to accept responsibility for our guilt and that of our ancestors. We disavow every claim to innocence because repentance ushers us into the shadow of his cross. He has forgiven the Original Sin; He has redeemed our history. Appalled at the ongoing horror of sin, we celebrate God's mercy and freely try to atone for crimes of the past.