Word to the Wise
Saturday, August 13, 2016 - Saturday in the 19th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32 and Matt 19:13-15]SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016 SATURDAY IN THE NINETEENTH WEEK IN 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 recite in the land of Israel: "Fathers have eaten green grapes thus their children'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. [Ezekiel] Ezekiel takes aim at the common belief in Israel that the sins of one's ancestors were visited on their descendants down to the third or fourth generation. This belief was enshrined in the law of Moses. Ezekiel proclaims that this belief is not true. Each individual is responsible for his or her own conduct. Yet, our own experience shows that there are traces of the older belief still around. In some. Parts of the world, a family may be ostracized for generations because of something that happened many years ago. In our own country, the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud is a symbol of that. It's almost as if there is some kind of broken moral DNA that is inherited by subsequent generations. Ezekiel reminds us that each of us must take responsibility for our own actions. Yes, there is a kind of group responsibility as well. Whole societies have been known to take on certain destructive behavior, but ultimately we all face God alone. Ezekiel takes aim at old sour grapes so that later generations don't have to taste them. AMEN