Accepting Responsibility - November 28
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 1, 2, 3; PM Psalm 4, 7; Isa. 1:10-20; 1 Thess. 1:1-10; Luke 20:1-8
With the Thanksgiving break this past week, my family enjoyed some quality movie time. On Saturday, we watched the 2017 Wonder Woman box office hit. The movie is set during World War I, a global war at play. Wonder Woman believes that the “War to end all Wars” is really the work of the Greek God, Ares. There is this scene where she is demanding to know who is at fault for the great war.
The protagonist, a good-natured US pilot, has promised to take Wonder Woman to the center of the action, but he doesn’t believe that Ares is involved. There is a beautiful scene where the pilot is arguing about who is responsible for the war and he places the burden of responsibility on all of humanity. “We are all responsible for this war.”
Of course, Hollywood had a real villain to make a better movie. Wonder Woman had returned to defeat the war-hungry Ares, but I appreciated the responsibility of the pilot, the awareness that as humans, our lives are intertwined in a way that makes it challenging most times to discern absolute blame on one side or the other. We all play a role in perpetuating the world that we have inherited.
This season of Advent, we have begun reading from Isaiah. The prophet looks to address an entire people reminding them that the world they are responsible for caring for is not as it is. It isn’t a lament to how they have been treated (Isaiah will touch upon this later), but addresses initially a self-reflective window to a people’s role in the wellbeing of others.
What a helpful beginning for this season of Advent! As we long for the kingdom of God to break through, our first inclination is not to turn to all the wrongs done by other people, of the ways we have been wronged, but instead to turn inwardly in exploring our own lives, and to recognize that all of Christianity has played a role in perpetuating this world we have inherited. And then, through our own repentance and self-examination, we can then turn to God’s agency in making something new out of our lives and this world.
Our reading today ends:
“Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Let us follow God and enjoy the fruits of what God is doing in our midst.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What is your practice of self-examination? How easy is it for you to accept responsibility for what is much larger than yourself?
Daily Challenge: One of the Eucharistic Prayers of the People (Form VI) includes a Confession of sin. This group of prayers begins on page 392. Trying using this prayer this week in your personal prayer life.