Opinion

C0rona or Karuna?

There have been some and I wish to stress the word some, who have been suggesting that the recent pandemic should be used as a clarion call to heard the sheep back to the fold by means of what I can only call a method steeped in fear. When one seeks the devil in dark places one will see him in any shape and form that he could possibly exist but what makes me truly appalled is when we see the retribution of God for our iniquities, in every tragedy that descends upon us.

The Archbishop of Bombay joined several prelates across the world in putting out a pastoral advisory coupled with an earnest call to the faithful to be united in prayer.  In the Diocese of Rome and several Diocese in Italy, public liturgical services have been suspend till the 3rd of April; this under the direction of the civil government. Such a direction should be taken seriously, as the Church has done, and should only be defied when it contradicts the issue of morals.

Which brings us back to the question at hand, is the pandemic God’s doing? And should we call the faithful to repentance in the face of such a pandemic? The prophet Joel called the people to repentance when a locust plague ravaged the land. The reading which is part of the liturgy on Ash Wednesday calls the faithful to sit in sack cloth and ashes. But then again, every liturgy is a call to turn to God and every Eucharist begins with an examination of our failings in the light of a God who always loves.

Repentance is a daily call of the Church and not some seasonal fruit that is offered. While we have seasons like Lent and Advent that heighten this call, the Lord calls us to change our hearts on a daily basis. While God may choose any incident to draw us closer to him with a repentant heart, it’s a very narrow spirituality that chases dark clouds and reads his wrathful hand in tragedies such natural disasters like pandemics, earthquakes and tsunamis.

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Faith

Knock Out  – 1st Sunday of Lent – Gen 2: 7-9, 3:1-7/ Romans 5: 12-19/ Matthew 4: 1-11

Lies, lies and more lies, and yet we fall for the wily ways of Satan. By the way, that’s not his name! Satan is simply a description of who he is, the ‘deceiver’; and in both our readings he excels with his web of lies. But here in lies the difference. In the book of Genesis, paradise is lost.  In the gospel of Matthew, paradise is regained. In the story of Genesis, the ‘first Adam’ and Eve succumb to the lies of Satan.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus, the ‘new Adam’ dismisses the deceiver with the word of God. Satan’s triple lie is crushed three times by the written Word of truth; scripture. Jesus, quoting the law from book of Deuteronomy (Chapters 6-8) confounds the lie of Satan with the words, “it is written.” The devil is overpowered by Jesus, THE WORD OF GOD.

So we are called to be on our guard when Satan quotes or rather mis-quotes scripture (verse 5). This should ‘open our eyes’, (another wily trick that Eve fell for) to the reality, that the devil will use every means in the book; in this case even the ‘Holy Book’ to lure us into his fire of hell.

I guess all this sounds a bit dramatic for even a good Catholic. So let us look at the evidence. In the first reading, God is emphatic in his instructions to Adam and Eve. You shall not eat or touch, or else you shall die. So Satan tells them four lies. First he says, “you will not die”, then, “your eyes will be opened” followed by, “you will be LIKE God” and finally, “you will know good and evil”.

Most of us think that the first sin of Adam was disobedience, when he and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Aha, but look a bit beyond this class you received in Sunday school. The first sin was that of a LACK OF FAITH. Notice Satan says to Adam and Eve, “you will be LIKE God”; but they were already made in HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS.

Satan said they would not die, but they did. He told them their eyes would be opened and they would know good from evil, but the irony is THAT THEY ALREADY KNEW IT (and so do we). The ‘Deceiver’ simply made them believe that they did not have what they already did, and they were not, what they already were. Herein lies the tragedy; they disbelieved God; they believed SATAN! (and so do we!)

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