Wednesday, 4th Week of Ordinary Time (II)

February 4,2004

by Rev. Herbert Nichols

In 1980, and again in 2000, the United States Government conducted a census of all its citizens and aliens living within the confines of this country. One purpose is to determine pockets and concentrations of citizens for the sake of allocating government services equitably. A second purpose is for the configuration of areas of quasi-equal population for the election of representatives to Congress.

David’s census was different from what we would experience. It was a military census to determine whether David could conscript a sizeable army according to the standards of his day. We may wonder what was so wrong with what David did. But he was seeking out sinful reliance on human means, rather than on God.

It was another Goliath that threatened David, not unlike the one which overcame him in last week’s readings. The Word of God had consistently said that people are like the sands of the sea shore, or the stars of the sky, and they are not to be numbered. The animals and lower creatures could be counted and exchanged in bartering, but human beings were never to be counted in a census. They are God’s children and the numbers known only to Him. David is repentant. As we saw last week, the all merciful God is immediate in forgiving but repentance often asks a display of public remorse.

The judgment is against David, but the punishments will be inflicted on all the people, perhaps because they somehow sinned in reflecting David’s lack of trust in God. We should be cautious in taking this chapter too literally, but rather, learn the serious lesson that there are consequences for sin. Often large populations experience the consequences of a leader’s wrongdoing.

If a person has defied God in his decisions, it is simply not enough to say: I’m sorry.

If a person uses instruments of mass destruction to murder great numbers of people, it is not enough to say: I’m sorry.

If a person, a leader, has led a life in violation of his oath of office or religious vows, it is not enough to simply say: I’m sorry.

If a person has lived a life in scandal, and led God’s people astray, it is simply not enough to say: I’m sorry.

This puzzling incident demonstrates clearly the forceful evil of sin, the punishment which it deserves, and the reparation that is part of the repentance process. Today many people speak of regret, but almost nobody attempts reparation, or reconciliation, because we live in a society that has lost the vision and enormity of sin.

A few years ago Newsweek magazine ran a feature on three "R’s" -- not reading, (w)riting, and "rithmetic" – but, regret, remorse, and repentance.

The first stage of response to wrongdoing might usually be regret. Saying that I’m sorry, but deep down, it is really the regret of ‘getting caught," perhaps coupled with the likelihood of some punishment. It’s like the two year old child hiding from mommy, knowing that she is not going to be pleased. It is juvenile narcistic and self-serving.

The second step is remorse, which admits to feelings of having disturbed the "balance," perhaps of having affronted someone. Perhaps a classic example is that of Judas who attempted to return the money saying: I have sinned in destroying innocent blood. Even with this attempt at reparation, it still falls short of pure repentance.

The third and concluding step in the repentance process is reconciliation. Jesus said: There is no sin that cannot be forgiven; no sin that is beyond the mercy of God; except one, the sin against the Holy Spirit, the sin that refuses to open to grace.

It was the shortcoming of Judas that drove him from the steps of Caaiphas’ home down the winding path to a fork in the road. Had he turned right, he would have been beneath the cross, the tree of life; he would he have been able to see things differently. There would we have been a St. Judas, as well as St. Jude?

Perhaps driven by blind shame, he forked to the left crossing the Kidron Valley and into the field used as a cemetery for the poor and migrant. There he unfastened his cord belt and hung himself from a tree of death.

We should not be quick to judge Judas. 2,000 years of history has not condemned him; but certainly, he failed to make his mark, to achieve that which the Lord had planned for him. Jesus said: For some it were better if they had never been born; but nowhere, does he indicate an abandonment of Judas. To the contrary, he makes every effort to the very last minute to try to save Judas. Wherever Judas may be; Jesus loves him; as he loves David. He loves you, and He loves me.

Nothing can ever change that, but it is only when we recognize the serious evil that sin is, and our obligation to repair the damages that we have caused, even if only indirectly, then, we can begin to appreciate the splendor and majesty of God’s forgiveness.