privileges and responsibilities: 26th week friday 2012 II

We attribute greater responsibility to those who have greater privileges.  We may be tolerant when a child makes noises and plays out loud when mass is going on, but we will not be amused when an adult does the same in church.  We allow a child to do certain things in a formal occasion which we find intolerable and inexcusable for an adult to do the same.  This is the reason why the application of laws is different from a juvenile offender to an adult offender - because we attribute greater responsibility to those who have greater privileges.

Today we hear Jesus teaching the people in the same vein.  A person will be judged according to the chances of knowing, to the chances of learning which were provided to him or her.  Chorazin and Bethsaida will be condemned with greater punishment than Tyre and Sidon because only a prophet preached in Tyre and Sidon, but Chorazin and Bethsaida had the privilege of hearing God’s word through Jesus himself, through the Son of God himself. 

Today let us re-appreciate our realities, the reality of studying in Assumption, the reality of a strong christian education, the reality of good well-off parents.  Think about these privileges, these graces, and remember the responsibilities that go with them.