Homily Notes First Sunday of Lent 2018
We Catholics like to put labels on religious concepts. So, we describe different types of grace. We talk about actual grace. We also speak of sanctifying grace. Another grace is habitual grace. And then we have the grace that is mentioned at one point in the new translation of the Roman Missal, that type of grace is called prevenient grace. Grace is related to our ongoing relationship with God. When we are living a graced life, we are close to God.
We could say that sin is the opposite of grace. But we have different labels for sin. We speak of venial sin, for example. Venial sins are those sins we commit every day which we probably are not very much aware of. We do not necessarily make a conscience choice to commit this type of sin. Also, the action is not very serious. We might yell at the kids. Perhaps we speak sharply to our spouse. During Lent we may not forget to keep our Lenten resolution. Venial sin is not going to jeopardize our salvation. But small sins are spiritually damaging. If we commit them often enough they will have an adverse effect on our lives.
The other type of sin that we are very familiar with is mortal sin. A mortal sin does affect our eternal salvation. But we do not fall into such sin by accident. To sin in such a way is a deliberate choice. We reject God’s love. We separate ourselves from him. You could say that we make the choice to sin over and over.
Venial sin and Mortal sin are things that touch the individual. We sense that if a person reforms their way of behaving they can receive forgiveness and start life anew. Redemption can be ours which is the great thing about Christianity. Sin does not have to have the last word.
But there is another type of sin that that we seldom talk about. And that sin is social sin. Social sin is the sins of society. We hear about such sin every day. Just this last week we have seen an example of social sin erupting into our world again. In Parkland Florida 17 people were killed in another mass shooting. We have had the usual hand wringing from our leaders. Such violence is blamed on the lack care for those who have mental health issues meanwhile mental health services continue to shrink and are less and less funded by the government. We blame the lack of gun laws meanwhile federal gun laws are becoming ever weaker. We speak of violence in the media that desensitizes people, but the violent content grows. Because of this and many other factors we say we as individuals can do nothing. Too big for me we say.
Nothing much has changed from the days of Noah. The biblical story is the first example of social sin being mentioned in the Bible. Why did God destroy the earth with a flood? We do not get much of a clue from the story. We just read that humanity was sinful. Everywhere God looked the Lord saw corruption. Because of this, God decides that he must start over again. It looks like the whole human race is going to be wiped out along with every creature on the earth. But then God notices one family, Noah’s family. Noah is not corrupt. He does not cooperate with the evil of society.
God offers Noah a plan to save his family. As we remember he builds an ark. He does it exactly according to God’s specification. Noah does not listen to the ridicule of the world. No, he listens to voice of God. One man saves humanity.
And after it is all over, God makes a covenant with Noah, but it is an interesting one. For it is not an agreement with Noah alone; a just God making a deal with a just man. God said, “I make a covenant with you and your descendants as well as with all living creatures.” Even after the flood, all creation was interconnected. We cannot escape relationship with God nor can we cease to be part of the web of all life on earth. We are forever responsible for each other. Are we going to try to change the world or are we going to just save our own soul?
Who is building the arks of our time? After the shooting this week numerous high school students called out the leadership of our nation. The students asked, “When are children going to quit dying?” the students warned the politicians. “If you come here, don’t just offer sympathy be ready to tell us what you are going to do.” When is our society going to say enough is enough. People will laugh at the students saying they don’t understand the complexity of social sin, but Noah was laughed out. I pray that these young people will help build the ark that will float over the waters of the moral chaos we presently endure. Perhaps they are listening to the Spirit which calls us to an idealism that most are afraid to embrace.
Please note this is just a rough draft, grammar may not be perfect.