TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES
Referring to two tragedies in Jerusalem, namely, the Galileans whose blood Pilate “mixed with their sacrifices” and the 18 people killed by a falling tower in Siloam, people insinuated to Jesus that it was their sinfulness that brought about such tragedies. Jesus refused to directly engage the question. We can surmise two reasons why.
First, to say that the tragedy that befell those people is due to their sinfulness is not consistent with the biblical God. God is not a divine diva who gets into an angry tantrum at the slightest provocation. He is not some heavenly policeman looking over the shoulders of His subjects, ready to strike at their first brush with the law. Quite the contrary. Whenever we sin and wander away from God, the immediate Divine reaction is not one of death but an invitation to conversion and life. God Himself assures us of this through the prophet Ezekiel: “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).
Secondly, Jesus wanted to shift the attention of His audience to the more pernicious kind of death a sinner can experience — that of being separated from sharing the very life of God. This explains the enigmatic remark Jesus gave at the end of His response: “Do you think they were more guilty than anyone else who lived in Jerusalem? Certainly not. But I tell you, you will all come to the same end unless you reform.”
Alienation from the life of God. That would be the tragedy of all tragedies! Fr. Joel O. Jason
REFLECTION QUESTION: God would have us relate to Him not in fear but in love. Have you made that transition?
How comforting, O Lord, that life is Your constant offer to us even when we are not mindful of it. Suffer us not to be separated from You. Amen.
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