scandal: 26th sunday B 2012
First we affect one another. Whether we intend to or not, whether we
accept it or not, there are people affected by what we say and what we do. That is why there is a sin of scandal because
people may lose faith because of what they see in us, people may be led to sin
because of what they know about us, and people may be led away from the church
because of what we do and how we treat others.
There is such a sin as scandal because we affect one another.
If you remember in the letters of Paul
he told the Christians that although it is no longer a sin to eat pork or the
meat of an unclean animal, one should be careful about eating these at the
sight of those who are weak for they might lose faith, they might leave the
fellowship. In other words though it is
not a sin, don’t do it for the sake of others, though it is not sinful don’t do
it in consideration to those whose faith is weak.
Many times we think only of ourselves. I am free to do whatever I want, I can do what
I want, I can say what I want. But again
the sin of scandal reminds us that in Jesus the other is of greater
consideration more than my own rights, the other is of greater import more than
my personal freedoms. The sin of scandal in the gospel reminds us that we are
not living alone and we affect one another.
The second implication of the sin of
scandal is this - there are those among us who carry a bigger, a greater
responsibility, a weightier burden because others look up to them, because
their actions are considered examples to be followed. And there are people among us who are weak,
who are more susceptible to the assertions and claims of these significant
persons, and there are those who are more vulnerable to their critiques and
conflicts. What I say as a parent or a
teacher because of my role as a parent or a teacher has a greater effect for
good or for ill. What I do as a priest
or as a religious because of the perceived intimacy with God can either hasten
the growth of the faith of the people or it can kill this outright.
Thus we become skandalon, an obstacle
that makes people trip and fall. We
become the source and the cause for others to sin, a source and a cause that
has to be cut off like the sinful hands, feet and eyes that prevents one from
going into the kingdom.
When Napoleon Bonaparte bragged before
the clergy of France telling them, "I am going to destroy the catholic church," some
of the priests stood up and told him, “but emperor, that is exactly what we
have been trying to do for the past several centuries.”
Most often the dangers to the soul
cannot be found outside threatening the inside.
No. Most often the enemy of the
soul is within the church, within the parish, within the community - intrigues,
jealousy, pride, envy, even rivalry and just simple hatred for each other. Indeed the church is divine for it survived
this long despite of us.
In our first reading Moses had to
contend early with envy and jealousy. It
is good that Moses immediately recognized it as such, otherwise he would have
been swayed by piety. The disciples in
the first part of our gospel were also caught up with this concern - a concern
of us and them. It is good that Jesus
recognized it as such otherwise he would have been swayed too by arrogance and
that better-than-the-rest attitude.
These are all skandalon, obstacles that
have prevented us from becoming the people we were called. Today let us think about this - how did I
become an obstacle to the growth of another and how did I also become a
catalyst for growth?
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