Oblivious to Eye-Opening

LISTEN TO HOMILY
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! To be oblivious to something. We've all been there at one time or another. We can be oblivious to pain or perhaps oblivious to someone's attraction toward us. Like, “Dude...you're oblivious...she thinks you got skills!” Oblivious to pent up anger, resentment or frustration from a friend or relative. For some reason or another we may be unconcerned and unaware of impending danger. We either chose to ignore it or we are truly ignorant and have no idea of what is going on. Ignorance is bliss as they say. Or is it? Today's gospel challenges us to recognize sin and the presence of evil in our own lives; not to be oblivious to the insidious side of sin.
On this first Sunday of Lent, let's look at sin! I know. I know. You Catholics are always looking at sin. Catholic guilt, a formed conscious and a constant reminder of sin always before us. Why not talk about something else, like beige Catholicism. You're okay. I'm okay. Let's all love one another like Jesus and his disciples. Can't we just all get along, anyway! But there is something good in looking into sin. There is something crucially critical in captivating the essence of sin. We do by the way, begin our Lent on Ash Wednesday by receiving a mark on our forehead distinguishing ourselves as sinners with the minister saying, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
However, if we don't know what sin is, how can we possibly turn away from it? If sin is not defined for us, how can we truly engage in the life worth living? You could say that sin is a starting point on which to build the spiritual life! We must recognize our sin in order to overcome our sin. If we are numb to the depth and intensity of sin's slavery, we can never become fully alive. God created us to be free from sin, not sallowed up by it. Hence, Lent is a time to look at the sin in our lives and then to make amends, to change our hearts. To repent. To turn away from sin. To be faithful to the Gospel.
A particular critique on post-modern culture is that we have ignored sin's devastating ramifications. We have become immune to sin. So much so that we shy away and it becomes the last thing we want to think about. If I have to look at my sins, it will take away from the better life for which I seek. We avoid examining our conscious and seriously assessing our lives. Sin itself is something we want to avoid, but find ourselves sunk into. It's like we want the better life, but are unwilling to realize that this life we seek can only come from acknowledging God's grace as the more powerful agent. There isn't more evidence in this than someone coming to confession for the first time in a long time and saying, “I can't really think of anything.”
If we can say like the psalmist, “Be merciful O Lord for we have sinned.” It is only then can we begin to leave a spiritual numbness and lethargic lifestyle to discover God's true call to holiness in our lives. Listen to Pope Benedict's words in his most recent encyclical, “Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is.” An examination of our life and the sin we commit then is not a condemnation on ourself, but a portal, a gateway, an avenue to a life worth living because it is only the Savior, Jesus Christ who can lift us from our sinful condition! You see! Catholic guilt is GOOD!
So today's readings wrap around this perfectly. In the first reading, notice the juxtaposition between the forbidden tree and the rest of the garden. From the beginning, there is a sense of good and evil. A place of goodness, truth, beauty, and freedom—ie the Garden; and the forbidden, the isolated, the lie, the slavery—ie the tree. Truth is not arbitrary, but defined. To this day, the Church's responsibility is to keep this distinction alive. There is good and there is evil and it must be defined in the light of Christ. Don't muddle the waters and pretend to believe that good and evil don't exist!
Adam and Eve's sin is shattered through Christ's yes! St. Paul says in Romans, “For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.”
We are made new through the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ! And His gift to us is salvation. We have been acquitted by His love! He paid the price so we don't have too. “The wages of sin are death.” Christ is life. It is Christ who comes into this dry desert of lifeless sin to enter into our sinfulness and restore us once again to a garden of life.
Do our lives look like a wilted garden, dilapidated and lifeless. If so, perhaps we haven't taken an honest look at the sin that is holding us back. Or have we accepted Jesus Christ as the true redeemer of our lives. There are not substitute redeemers out there! Believing, hoping that He is the one who has forgiven our sins. When we believe that Jesus is the one who brought acquittal it is only then that we can be free! We must look at our sin to become sinless! That is sanctification. It is being keenly aware rather than blatantly oblivious.
Jesus' little jaunt in the desert presented him with the many lies of Satan. One such lie is that we need not examine our conscious, make a good confession, or even enter into these 40 days in the desert. That is what the evil one would like us to believe. Many great writers like Goethe and Dostoevsky were adamant about the presence of sin, of evil, of demons. Charles Baudelaire, an 18th century poet & critic said, “The demon's greatest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist.” And is he not succeeding in post-modernism! An African-American Spiritual says, “Old Satan is crazy! He shot me to destroy my soul, but missed and destroyed my sin instead.” But Jesus does not sway to Lucifer's tricks. Jesus confronts evil in the desert three separate times and conquers evil finally nailing it on the cross to die. He came. He saw. He kicked butt!
We mustn't think we are self-sufficient without a need for a redeemer. The message is that Christ has conquered sin and death! Let this Lent be a journey into the desert with Jesus Christ. First, recognizing our sinfulness and not being oblivious to how much it can hurt us. Second, believing that it can only be defeated by Christ and Him alone. And lastly to leave the desert all the more better for confronting it and living a truly flourishing life both here and for eternity for His mercy endures forever!




References:
Raniero Cantalamessa www.zenit.org/article-21719?l=english
Father Barron http://www.wordonfire.org/