Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15
Ps 1031-4, 1-8, 11
1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12
Lk 13:1-9
The narrative of Moses and the burning bush is familiar. It seems odd that Moses had to ask God's name. However, the Jewish Study Bible explains that Moses was not raised with his people. He knew nothing of their religion. Kind of like too many children today whose parents fail to give them any religious instruction so as to "empower" them to choose on their own when they are older.
Ignorance is not always bliss, sometimes it is pathetic.
Moses had to undergo a conversion and had to learn if he were to become the leader of the people. When he asked to whom he was speaking he was told: I AM. The Jewish Study Bible translates the Hebrew as "I Will Be What I Will Be." It goes on to explain that this means "My nature will become evident from My action." That nature did become evident. Alas, the people didn't always get
or appreciate that nature.
The gospel narrative is unique to Luke's gospel. What are we to make of it? It raises two questions: why do bad things happen to good people? why do good things happen to bad people? The questions are those of theodicy,
There is a breathtaking arrogance inherent in the assumption that one can explain why or how a loving God permits or allows evil, disaster, death and suffering. The angry "WHY?" the desperate “WHY?” the faith-filled “WHY?”
have circled the globe since God created it. It will continue to orbit until the world ends.
One can hear Eve screaming WHY? after Cain murdered Abel.
One can imagine Noah shrieking WHY? when he surveyed the damage after the flood.
If we listen closely we can hear ourselves groaning WHY? at the illness or death of a loved one, the loss of home and possessions through fire or flood, or the confrontation with mortality upon realizing: I am dying.
WHY? is perhaps the most frequently recited prayer in war zones.
Jesus' examples of bad things happening to good people are challenging because there is no historical record of them.
Yes, Herod was a crazed megalomaniac who did evil sadistic things so as to maintain absolute control of his kingdom. Crazed megalomaniacs continue today. It is true that towers did collapse and kill people. Construction collapses caused by lust for money that drives shoddy construction practices continue today.
But, scholars cannot agree what the Tower of Siloam was. There is no historical record of a sacrifice of Galileans at worship--though today there are too many examples of Christians martyred at worship, modern martyrs for the faith.
Jesus' examples were used to illustrate that evil, disaster, suffering, and death
happen to both the bad and the good, the just and the unjust. The saying "only the good die young" is as appalling, inappropriate, and inaccurate a statement as was ever invented. Appalling is also applicable to the Billy Joel song of the same title but that will be the topic for a different homily.
Jesus twice repeats the words "If you do not repent " in this short passage. That demand implies conversion of heart.
Repentance and conversion are two sides of the same coin. Repentance is an interior act. Conversion is evidenced by a change of behavior emerging from the act of repentance. In His call to repentance Jesus is echoing the words of the prophets: Amos, Isaiah, Micah, and Ezekiel, each of whom preached repentance for sinand conversion of heart.
Will bad things still happen in the world if we repent? Will bad things still happen to us if we repent? Without a doubt. Will we still suffer? Of course, it is part of being human. Will we still experience pain, despite conversion of heart? Absolutely.
The risk is not that bad things will happen to good people. The risk is the temptation to defiance toward God when bad things, pain, and suffering do happen. The risk is adopting the attitude, "God, if you don't shape up I'm shipping out."
The reading from Paul's Letter to the Corinthians is a challenge on at least two levels. First, it is edited down to chapter ten verses one to six and verses ten to twelve. The four missing verses are important to Jesus’ message as they described the kind of sin that called down punishment: idolatry, immorality, testing God. Sounds like twenty-first century American life marked by: the odd idolatry of celebrity worship, the immorality of puberty blockers, abortion, and killing the ill elderly. And don’t forget testing God through greed, and lethal materialism.
I'm not sure Job would, or could, have taken much comfort from Paul. We will never know why bad things happen to good people or why good things happen to bad people. That not knowing, causes anger and the frustration that may drive maladaptive behaviors and actions.
Faith will temper pain and sorrow somewhat. Prayer will soothe the soul a bit. But in the end we will never know the answers. Despite that uncertainty we are called to sing with the psalmist in faith and hope,
"The Lord is kind and merciful,
He pardons iniquities,
heals all ills,
He redeems lives from destruction,
and secures justice,"
Nothing more need be added.
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Carthusian Charterhouse, Pleterje, Slovenia
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
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