The Responsibility of the Sinner

 Today’s readings usually lead us to reflect on the responsibility of correcting and warning our neighbour regarding sin. “Jesus spoke to his disciples. ‘If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone’” (Matthew 18:15-20). Today, however, I want to focus on the responsibility of the sinner himself.

1. The Lord says to the prophet Ezekiel: “If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked one, you shall surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked person shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 33:7-9). The prophet has the responsibility of warning the wicked. However, even if the prophet does not do his job, the wicked will still be punished because of his iniquity. The wicked will not be able to say, “I didn’t know!” or “Sorry, the prophet didn’t say anything!” The prophet will be responsible for not having warned, but the wicked will be responsible for his own sin.

2. Nobody will be punished for things that they could not know. We may be punished for things that we could have known, but we did not make a reasonable effort to find out: topic for another day. We will certainly be punished for things that we knew they were wrong and we did them any way. We will also be punished for choosing to ignore certain things, so that we could keep doing what we wanted, even when we suspected that something was not right. So, we will be punished for choosing to do wrong, and for choosing to ignore what we could certainly find out, just in order to do what we want. We will not be able to blame others for our own choices, even when some people, even prophets, may have failed to us.

“But, father, if the prophet does not speak, how can people know?” Fair question. First, there is a difference between the prophet’s teaching what people do not know, and the prophet’s warning people about the wrong that they knowingly perpetrate. The prophet’s warning may deter people from doing evil, but people are already committing sin because they know. -- The prophet’s teaching, especially those things that people could not find out otherwise, educates people’s good conscience and makes them grow. It is not good for people to do wrong things unknowingly: even when they do not sin, doing something objectively wrong does not let them grow as human beings or as Christians, and does not let them live to the full God’s plan. -- The prophet’s clear teaching helps people for another reason: it liberates them from the responsibility of finding out for themselves those things that are more difficult to study, things that for the priest are easy to find out or to study and explain.

3. All that being said, there are things that everybody knows. We all have a conscience that tells us, at least, that we must never do any wrong and that we must do always something good. That voice is in all of us, and it is like an inner prophet of the Lord: “O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95). “Love does no wrong to a neighbour” (Romans 13:8-10).

There are many other things that everybody should know, but nowadays there is so much cultural confusion that it is better (and maybe even necessary) to recall them. St. Paul speaks of them in today’s second reading: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Romans 13:8-10).

4. “O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” (Psalm 95) What is the Lord telling us today, in the depths of our hearts? Are we testing the Lord, to see if we can get away with it for a little while longer? The Lord complains that His people did not listen though they had seen His work. Listening to God’s voice is a way of being grateful for God’s gifts; and this gratefulness is beneficial to us, not to the Lord.

The Lord wants us to do His will, but He does not come with weapons or a show of power: He speaks, He communicates His message to you, for your understanding, for your personal reflection. He speaks to your heart; He speaks to your conscience. Let us listen!

Some suggestions. Avoid distraction and seek instruction. Avoid distraction: turn off the TV for 10 minutes, stay away from your phone for 10 minutes, and try to listen to your conscience, and to God who may want to speak to your heart. Do this often, you won’t regret it. Seek instruction: do not choose to ignore what you should know. Nowadays, everybody has access to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you have positive reasons to believe that you are doing something wrong, ask for more information or seek that info for yourself.

Avoid distraction and seek instruction. There are things that are much more important that whatever happens in the rest of the world. One day, those things will pass, but heaven and hell will last for ever. Being informed means, not only but first of all, listening to God’s voice, knowing about Him and what He wants.