Sunday, March 7, 2010
 

“Do you think these are the greatest sinners?”

In the short, seemingly simple, gospel reading of this weekend there is a lot to be learned. When Jesus was alive and preaching the gospel, the rest of the world was going on about its business. Two events are mentioned in this gospel – the massacre of the Galileans at sacrifice, and the accident to those at the Tower of Siloam. Jesus chose to comment on both events. He was aware of current events and was prepared to draw lessons from them. In our focus on Jesus and the gospel, we tend to forget how inserted he was in the world of his time.

In Jesus’ time, the popular belief was to see catastrophe as some kind of punishment from God. Even in our day we hear misinformed people comment on current events and tragedies. After the horror of the Twin Towers in New York there were those who said that this was a punishment on New York for its evil ways. Some said the same after the earthquakes in Haiti and in Chile. In the matter of personal tragedy, how often do we hear people ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” Jesus very strongly contradicts this common misconception which held that diseases, poverty, and tragedies were the consequences of the victims’ sins. The poor, even today, often suffer under this same misconception. There are those who judge that the poor remain in their misery through some imagined fault or sin of their own, or out of laziness, or lack of ambition, or their national or ethnic traits. Strong people, and ‘self-made’ people, can often be the most critical. We often blame the victim for whatever happens to him or her – and sometimes the victims blame themselves. It is common for victims of abuse or rape to feel guilt.

These questions were being discussed with Jesus as he was on his way to Jerusalem. There, Jesus was to suffer the ultimate disaster and tragedy. He would be put to death in a most foul way. The Cross would come to the one who was righteousness itself. We see again the profound nature of Jesus’ words to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Jesus had no possessions, he had nowhere to lay his head, he was on the road all his public life, and he was under constant criticism and persecution. Finally, he was cruelly put to death. Jesus, who was innocence itself, suffered poverty and misery, and tragedy and disaster. His life and death is the response to the queries about the victims at sacrifice and the eighteen killed by the falling tower, and those who down the ages have suffered disaster or tragedy. The answer to the mystery of suffering is to be found in the mystery of the Cross.

There are those who would say, “But he rose from the dead on the third day!” They imply that all the disasters he suffered were in some way cancelled out by the Resurrection. But the Resurrection is not a reversal of the Crucifixion. It is the affirmation of the life and death of Jesus. The love and vulnerability of the Cross are God’s way. The Cross was the ultimate incarnation of Christ. Through the Cross, Jesus thoroughly entered into our world and so entered into his glory.

Jesus calls on us to repent or we will be far worse off than those who suffered the massacre or the disaster. Repentance is a call to turn back onto the road that follows Christ. In the parable of the fig tree, Jesus is telling us that while we have life we have time to turn to him. But we don’t know how much time we do have. An act of terror, an earthquake, a walk down the street, a sudden illness can bring our life precipitously to an end. Suffering and disasters can give us pause and enable us to reflect on the fragility of life and occasion us to repent and turn back onto the right road that follows Christ.” Our individual crosses can be God’s word to us. Jesus’ cross led to glory. Our crosses can too.
 

Father Kevin P. Casey

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