Word to the Wise
Saturday, January 9, 2010 - Christmas Weekday
[1 John 5:14-21 and John 3:22-30]If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life.
The early years of the Christian community were times of establishing the identity and faith by which the community would live. Needless to say, there were divisions and factions. In the First Letter of John, much is made over those who have left the community to follow their own beliefs. It is this kind of person whose sin is "deadly" in the sense referred to in the quote from todays' first scripture. [For the scholarly, I recommend the magisterial Anchor Bible study of Raymond Brown, SS, THE EPISTLES OF JOHN and his minute analysis of the notion of "deadly sin" in 1 John.] In short, the text does not refer to what we in our times might call "mortal sin" as compared with "venial sin." On the pastoral level, I am accustomed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to hearing people mention problems that they are having with one of their children or a friend who has stopped going to Mass, etc.. I generally will assign a "penance" which requires praying for that individual. This has the effect of countering the judgmental attitude that so many accuse themselves of in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Pope Benedict XVI has made religious indifferentism and relativism his special concerns. When our friends and loved ones fall prey to these conditions, they are indeed in need of our prayers. The scripture from 1 John today is a reminder that we do better when we pray for them than when we judge them. AMEN
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