Word to the Wise
Monday, February 16, 2015 - Monday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 4:1-15, 25 and Mark 8:11-13]Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field." When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" [Genesis]
Genesis continues to present us with one fundamental truth after another! I suspect that most folks would remember that Cain killed his brother Abel, but not the reason why. It is envy over the fact that God had accepted Abel's offering and not Cain's on a particular occasion. God tries to reassure Cain, but to no avail. Cain knows he can't fight God, but he can fight and kill his brother. That is what happens. (Parents know this kind of thing between siblings!)
If one lets the imagination run a bit, there could be some underlying tension between the nomadic shepherding way of life and the settled agricultural way of life that was part of the transition of the Israelites from wandering in the desert to settling in the promised land. But the human lesson is too powerful. God asks a fundamental question and Cain asks one, too. "Where is your brother?" "Am I my brother's keeper?" Both those questions challenge us to an examination of conscience! The answers in the light of Jesus' teaching are: "Anyone else." And, "Yes!" AMEN
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