THE MISCONCEPTION OF GOOD as Evil

 

First Reading: Gen 3:9-15
Second Reading: 2 Cor 4:13--5:1

Gospel: Mk 3:20-35

After long festive season and solemnities we are back to liturgical ordinary time Sundays. This Sunday the readings pull us to focus on the reality of sin. When we speak of sin we have to begin from where it originated; Adam and Eve. Today’s first reading is about God’s interaction with our first parents after their fall. God calls Adam, “Where are you?” Adam replies that He is hiding himself from God as He is naked. He doesn’t want God as well as his wife to see him naked. But before that fall he was very comfortable to be naked in front of God and with his wife. This is the revelation that being naked is not the reason for his hiding, rather the disorientation that has happened with the fall (Sin). Sin is nothing but a rejection of good and viewing good as something bad. The eating of forbidden fruit has caused Adam and Eve to view their body which is good as something to be ashamed of. Satan deceived the first parents by presenting the forbidden fruit as something good and to be eaten necessarily. He presented the evil as good consequently, making them to view all other goods as evil and distance themselves from all the creatures. Had they refrained from accepting that one evil fruit, they would not have faced hostility from all the creatures. Letting of one evil has led them to great turmoil in life. This is the nature of our life. And Satan knowing this well, tries to make us fall.

It is to be noted that God never moves away from sinful man. He comes in search of him. It is the sinner who hides himself from God. This is the effect of sin. A man who was once comfortable to be naked in front of God, after sinning assumes that his nakedness would offend God and elicit His wrath. Why does he think so? Because he wants to hide the sin. But God is omniscient – all knowing – so how could it possible for a man to hide his sin? Yes, it is not possible. Therefore man tries to do what is possible in his capacity to be unseen by God. In his material nature he believes that distancing himself from God bodily, could mitigate God’s wrath. Why do most people do not come to church or encounter God in the Blessed Sacrament? Because they feel comfortable when they are not in the presence of God. Yes, they FEEL. Although God knows everything about oneself, the FEELING that one gets from being away from God’s sight comforts the one to some extent.

In the Gospel also we see scribes crediting the good works of Jesus to evil spirits. As children of Adam, they view good works of Jesus as something evil. Their sight to the reality is different because of their sinful nature. Just as Adam hid himself from God, these Jewish leaders hide their sinful life under their religious title and cloak. They too FEEL comfortable in religious cloak, despite sinning. Because their religious cloak and title gets reputation for them from people. The Catholic Church is very clear that the religious attire is only for ritual functioning and giving a witness to the world. It is in no way connected to auto purification of oneself or surety to heaven. On the one hand, ordinary faithful hide themselves from God by being away from God’s presence and sacraments. On the other hand, religious people hide themselves from God under their religious attire, titles and portfolios. We never disclose the dark side of our life to anyone unless we know that the person with whom we are sharing is confident or s/he is also in the same boat. The maturity of 21st century consists in hiding one’s dark side of life until someone discovers it. If someone discovers one’s negative side of life, it is the fashion in today’s world either s/he admits it with aggression or gets into seclusion. It is like either you feel proud about your sin or keep yourself away from the rest.

The Christian approach to sin and dark side of one’s life is completely opposite to this. A sinful Christian admits his/her sin with humility. The Christian who hears or comes to know about the sin of the other treats that person with love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion. A Christian discloses his/her sin with humility and regret as well as looks at the confessed sinner not as a sinner (naked) but just as how one looked at him/her before the confession. In the letter of James we read, “Confess your sins to each other” (Jas 5:16). Do we dare to do this now? The crux of today’s reading is that whatever be our sin, one should not run away from God. It is in coming back to God that we get restored, just as the prodigal son got restored once he came back to his father’s house. Adam hid himself. As his children we also get into the habit of hiding, but let that not happen anymore. Come and be in His presence. It is only He who can hide your nakedness. As His disciples let us also not make others naked through our gossip rather clothe the other with our forgiveness and love. Do not remain with the comfort of FEELING, rather get healed to remain fulfilled. Remaining in sin only leads us to consider good as evil. Rather, getting cleansed of sin restores our sight to view the reality in its proper sense.

Do not hide, you are always naked in front of God.
Do not pretend, you are not the only sinner.


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