Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 16, 2008 - Saturday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
[Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13B, 30-32 and Matthew 19:13-15]Son of man, what is the meaning of this proverb that you recited in the land of Israel: "Fathers have eaten green grapes, thus their chlldren's teeth are on edge"? As I live, says the Lord God: I swear that there shall no longer be anyone among you who will repeat this proverb in Israel. For all lives are mine; the life of the father is like the life of the son, both are mine; only the one who sins shall die.
In this famous passage, Ezekiel takes aim at a fundamental moral human tendency: to blame one's parents or someone else for one's current situation. The prevailing attitude amongst the exiles in Babylon, who were his intended audience, was that their ancestors, particularly a couple of the last kings, were responsible for the Babylonians coming and destroying everything. It would be a little like the Katrina survivors in New Orleans (or elsewhere) saying, "It's all the fault of the generations ahead of us that the levees broke. We're paying for their sins." Ezekiel would respond, "You could have taken action yourselves! You're not guilty of the previous generation's neglect - only your own!" In the case of the exiles in Babylon, Ezekiel is not only dealing with the lamentation about why the exile took place, but what will be the attitude for the future. Each generation must take responsibility for its own actions instead of blaming their own actions on the sins of their ancestors. Ezekiel's challenge is a very uncomfortable one. It extends to collective responsibility as well as individual responsibility. We often look for someone else, especially someone who was ahead of us (and may not be around to defend themselves) to blame when things go wrong. As a matter of faith, we may be feeling that God is punishing us for the sins and failures of those who were our parents, political leaders, etc. etc. Ezekiel says, "I have good news and bad news! You aren't being punished for the sins of your forebearers, you are simply suffering the consequences of your own actions (or failures to act)." Each generation has two tasks. Each has to forgive those who have gone before (parents, friends, political leaders, etc.) and then, each generation must assume responsibility for their own actions. To scapegoat the past in order to excuse ourselves from creating a better future is the height of moral irresponsibility. AMEN
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