Tearing a Page in the Moral Dictionary
I
have yet to check it but as of January 1, 2012, according to the Global
Language Monitor, the number of words in the English language alone is
1,013,913. On the average, there is a new word created every 98 minutes
or about 14.7 words per day.
But
while the world is busy noting what new words appear in the world
vocabulary, no one seems to keep track of the words that are
disappearing in our collective vocabulary. I propose one word that we
rarely use or believe in nowadays: sin. No one talks about sin anymore.
Notice the verbal engineering done in the name of political correctness.
When Tiger Woods admitted to adultery, his sponsor, Nike, called it a
“temporary blib” in an otherwise sterling career. Gay relationships are
called alternative lifestyle. Abortion is rendered pregnancy reduction.
Be it in the area of theology, sociology or psychology, sin seems to be
attributed to
everything else but the individual person. When one commits a
wrongdoing, we justify it by saying “it’s nature’s fault,” “it’s in the
genes,” “he’s suffering from a form of complex.” It’s always everything
but free will.
This
is the product of the spirit of justification — a wrong kind of
justification. I call this a justification from below, i.e., justifying
wrong by attributing malice away from the person.
John
in the First Reading cautions us from this spirit of deception as he
says, “Beloved, do not trust every spirit, but put the spirits to a test
to see if they belong to God.” Justification from below does not come
from God. What comes from God is justification from above: “Repent, for
the Kingdom of God is at hand,” as Jesus proclaims in today’s Gospel.
As
far as Jesus is concerned, we eliminate sin by repentance, contrition
and confession — not by striking out the word from the dictionary and
from our consciousness, or calling it by another politically correct
term. Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTION: In what ways does the spirit of justification from below manifest in your own behavior?
Lord,
grant me the wisdom to see my fault, the courage to name it, and the
humility to be justified by repentance, contrition and confession. Amen.
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