Monday, July 11, 2016

Isaiah 1: 10-17

Hear the word of the LORD,
princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah!
What care I for the number of your sacrifices?
says the LORD.
I have had enough of whole-burnt rams
and fat of fatlings;
In the blood of calves, lambs and goats
I find no pleasure.

When you come in to visit me,
who asks these things of you?
Trample my courts no more!
Bring no more worthless offerings;
your incense is loathsome to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,
octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.
Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
When you spread out your hands,
I close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

We live in a culture where everything is permissible but nothing is forgivable during a time where people stand together at Mass and proclaim, “I believe…” but get to the parking lot and declare, “But the Church is wrong on…” Are we really that far removed from Sodom and Gomorrah? Do we not do wickedness during the week and then stand in Church on Sunday as a righteous people?

What good is sacrifice when it is not accompanied by a humble heart seeking to conform to the will of God? I’ve thrown my two coins in the offertory. Isn’t that enough? How much more does God want?

Often our approach to God is from arrogance and not repentance. We don’t need to dress respectfully when we come to worship him because he is happy that we came. I shake my brother’s hand at the sign of peace while holding a grudge over how he keeps his yard. For far too many the Sunday obligation has become the Sunday option and the Ten Commandments have become the Ten Suggestions.

I have heard it said that God has a cup of wrath that is filled slowly by the transgressions of his people. When it is filled it spills over and must be emptied. When this happens God pulls his protective grace and lets the natural chaos follow its course. We have example after bloody example of this through the course of human history. Will we not learn from the past? Can we not see where this road is leading?

Like Nineveh, we can repent and be saved. The largest hurdle before us is the belief that we already are.