In today’s first reading, Ezekiel reminds his people as he also reminds us that we need to take responsibility for our actions. There is a tendency today to always try to put the blame of what is happening to us on others. There is a trend to find ways and means to try to evade taking responsibility for what we do and try to justify or excuse our actions by saying that it is not our fault. The whole thrust of psychoanalysis means to shift the blame always on others or else on outside factors. The attitude says that what is occurring to me is the consequence of my upbringing, the fault of my parents or because I did not receive good support from my friends. It is true that we are influenced by our upbringing and by the company that we keep. At the same time we need to be big enough, to be mature enough, in saying that I need to stop pointing the finger at others and accept that I made the decisions. I decided to go this particular way and therefore I cannot blame others for the consequences. The time has to come for our personal growth and maturity to be able to acknowledge responsibility for my actions.
I remember some years back when I was driving my car. At a certain stage, I stopped behind some cars because the traffic lights turned red. There were also other cars behind me. As I was waiting for the traffic to move again I happened to look at the rear vision mirror. I saw a car in the left lane coming at an excessive speed and out of control. Some time later this car hit my own car while I was still stationery. As you may imagine, I was very upset at the stupidity and way of driving of this person in the car. When I got out of the car, the other person with an air of superiority tried to justify his actions and make all kinds of excuses for having hit my car. I just looked at him and said very angrily “Just stop. Don’t say anther word. It’s your fault. Now you have to bear the expenses of fixing whatever damage you have caused.” He threatened to contact his lawyer and he continued to talk loudly and gesticulate widely. I just calmly took the necessary particulars and through the Insurance Company he paid for all that was necessary to fix my car.
Unfortunately this attitude is very prevalent in our society. People are prepared to spend big money in order to try to get out of something that they are responsible for. The Prophet Ezekiel kept reminding the people during the exile that it was their fault that they found themselves in this situation. God had agreed to protect them and on their part they also agreed to abide by His ways. However, over the years, they went their own way. They did things their own way and forgot about God. As a consequence they became weak as nation. They lost their sense of unity. The land was riddled with factions and as a result they were conquered by another nation. Ezekiel reminded them that not everything is lost. Admit your fault, ask for forgiveness and become once more faithful to the agreement that you made with God to follow His ways. In this manner you will once again return to your homeland. This is precisely what happened.
How am I going to develop this quality of owning my responsibilities? There are three stages involved. In the first place I need to be honest. I need to admit the truth. I need to seek and follow the truth. I need to say, “Yes in this situation I made a mistake and I am sorry about it.” These words are not always easy to say but they are the words that start the process of peace within ourselves. However honesty is not enough. There is a second stage involved. Besides being honest I need to want to desire to change. “Yes, I have made a mistake. Now I am going to do something concrete to take care of the damage or hurt that I have cause and moreover, I will sincerely seek every way possible not to commit that same mistake again. Sometimes this is easy to do but often it is not. Here we come to the third stage. “Jesus, I need your help. Give me the strength and courage to seek forgiveness for my wrong actions so that gradually I will think, feel and act like you.” All of this does not involved a change of mind because of fear or self interest, but a change of heart because I desire to become more like Jesus and be a source of blessing for others. This is the deep meaning of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
We have just experienced the collapse of some of what were considered to be professional and efficient financial institutions. In the United Kingdom the famous banking system practiced by Northern Rock collapsed last year. In the United States Lehman Brothers considered to be a very respected financial bank suffered the same fate. Moreover, the American Government decided to bail out the two major government sponsored mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and has also stepped in to rescue AIG, the country’s biggest insurance company. Many tried to fathom the reasons for this debacle. At the end of the day it boiled down to one word: Greed. In an article in the “Tablet” a weekly Catholic periodical published in the United Kingdom, Chris Blackhurst who is the editor of London’s “Evening Standard” offers this comment. “In this unraveling of the capitalist financial system, the banks are paying the price for their own greed. Driven by a bonus culture and a desire to produce even bigger returns for shareholders, they fell into the trap of believing in their collective invincibility. When the dust has settled on the credit crunch, there must be a return to old fashioned banking and a stronger ethical position where caution and not profit is the watch word.” The hope is that our financial institutions take serious note of this. This is precisely the message of today’s readings.
Consequently, the word of today’s readings does not only apply to the spiritual sphere. As the Word of God it applies to every facet of human society. Religion is therefore far from a private affair between an individual and his or her God. For our own maturity and growth as human beings, the Word of God is very relevant and begs to be taken seriously.
God Bless
