Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

On ferial days, the Collect may be taken from any
Sunday of Ordinary Time.

 Lectionary: 360

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.

Salt cannot lose its taste, but I have been told that salty sand was collected and bagged on the shore of the Dead Sea, and then sold to cooks. They might drop the entire hempen sack into a pot to season the soup. Once the salt was washed out, leaving only sand, the bag was thrown out in the street. (So I am told. Google offers several alternative explanations. No one really knows. ) 

The point, of course, is that Jesus's people should make a difference wherever they go because they are different. If they don't the consequences of failure are severe.

If our society -- can we still call it that? -- ever needed people to make a difference, it is today. Jesus sent us from Jerusalem to be a people peculiarly his own. And the world should wonder where we came from. They might ask, "Which alternative reality do you represent?" 

But we're living among many alternative realities, and the differences, we're told, are pronounced. Democrats and Republicans agree to disagree about everything; and do it vindictively. They hurl useless words like conservative and liberal  like RPGs, but the intended victims sport them like badges of honor. They shout their reasoning at one another but neither camp hears the other. Many statements about abortion -- for and against -- have been repeated verbatim for fifty years. 

In all this commotion, the mysterious otherness of other people has disappeared as everyone is angry. Their differences don't matter and nothing changes. They have lost their saltiness and are good for nothing. 

How should the disciples of Jesus be different? 

We are those who confess our sins. We think little of our virtue; our accomplishments are insipid. Encountering the holy we can only say, "O Lord, I am not worthy."  

Unfortunately, even Catholics have little appreciation for Penance; they know little of either the virtue or the sacrament. Many church-going Catholics have not been to confession in years, and when they do they only complain about their troubles. They cannot name their sins. 

But they experience this aphasia even as the news media -- both liberal and conservative -- continually accuse them of sin. Even when the media are outraged about their careless habits and treasonous thoughts, they don't feel guilty. 

Turning to the Bible and our Catholic tradition, we hear the prophets and saints urging God's people to own, acknowledge, and turn away from their sins. We must confess, atone, and make reparation. 

But what sins have I committed? Personally, I've not found the list of ten commandments very helpful. Penance services intone those standard sins, but their accusations, like Russian artillery, fall short and wide. 

I must begin to atone by asking the Lord to show me my sins, and help me to see them clearly. I am certainly guilty, but of what? I look for answers among those around me. When have I tried their patience? When have I asked too much? When have I disappointed them? When have I felt badly about something I said or did? When I remember something, I take hold of it. 

During a traffic jam I engaged in a game of chicken with a neighboring car. It was my turn to fall into line behind a vehicle, but my neighbor would not allow me to merge. This went on for several minutes and even when he had clearly refused to let me in I inched closer to the shiny fender of his sport car. Later, I told my confessor, "I didn't have to do that." 

What got into me? When did I lose the good spirit which governs late afternoon traffic? Why didn't I quietly accept this young gentleman's refusal and let the soothing radio music quiet my soul?   How long have I been nurturing these grievances? This was a sin. 

I found answers and, despite the stresses that had underlie my foolish behavior, some peace of mind. 

We were told as children to confess our sins; what we did and how many times. I won't quarrel with the teaching sisters of the 1950's but I find it more helpful to tell the story of one sin, why I did it, when, where, to whom, how they felt about it; how I felt about it, what we learned from it, what I did to atone and to make reparation; and finally, the resolution. And then we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with grateful joy! 

The sins most of us confess are small potatoes. But our sins of racism, sexism, indifference, pollution, consumerism and so forth are usually microaggressions. Individually, they're not much; accumulated, they create friction, conflict, violence, genocide, and war. 

The Lord spoke to you and me when he said, "Turn away from sin and live by the Gospel." If we don't know what he was talking about, we'd better find out.