Peace be with you
Friends, if you've been following these sermons of mine in the past couple months, you know
I've been focusing very much on the first readings
You know coming up out of the old testament because I think we catholics especially aren't that great at understanding the old testament
So today i'm going to look at
This marvelous passage from the book of the prophet ezekiel
Now ezekiel, one of the four major prophets along with isaiah. Jeremiah and daniel
also, one of the most theologically profound and one of the most
mysterious of the prophets in fact ancient israel had an adage
That one should not even approach ezekiel till you're about 50
They thought prior to that you just didn't have what it takes
To read a text as complex as this one. So we'll be reading from ezekiel today
And the passage is from the 18th chapter
Now I think the 18th chapter of ezekiel represents a real breakthrough
in the consciousness of the west
You know
I'm a student of philosophy and and you look at people like socrates and plato and so on who did indeed represent great breakthroughs
They're kind of watershed figures but mind you they're operating around the year 400 bc
Ezekiel we're talking about 5
90 580 bc
Nearly 200 years before socrates and plato. This figure is operating and writing
And I think this chapter 18 I recommend by the way get your bibles out and just read that 18th chapter
Does represent a very important breakthrough now, let me explain what I mean?
Our passage today or rather the chapter commences
With a rehearsal of a proverb that was evidently popular among the ancient israelites. Here's the proverb
The parents have eaten sour grapes
And the children's teeth are set on edge
See that means the parents eat the sour grapes, but the children
suffer for it
the implication seems to be
That the children and grandchildren and descendants of those who have done wicked things
Are punished for the wickedness of their forbearers?
But see here's ezekiel's point god is having none of that
Listen, as I live says the lord god this proverb shall no longer be used in israel
It's very interesting now. It's very interesting
See ancient israel like like most ancient peoples
Thought not so much in terms of the individuals and we're on the far side of that divide. I mean we are so
Characterized by individualism that we probably need a little balancing, but see these people tended to think
that your
Family identity your tribal identity. Your national identity was more important than you
And so they had no trouble thinking. Yeah, someone sinned way back then of course, his descendants are implicated because it's your tribe
It's your family matters more than you
But ezekiel's saying and I think it's a breakthrough god says
No, no
That won't work
Listen now what he says
As he channels the words of the lord
Know that all lives are mine the life of the parent as well as the life of the child
But it is only the person who sins that shall die
And he spells this out now in some detail listen
If there's a person who's done all things, well, it's been righteous
I'm quoting now
But whose son?
Is violent a shudder of blood defiles his neighbor's wife oppresses the poor lifts up eyes to idols
Shall he then live?
He shall not you see his point. There is the son who's wicked can't wrap himself in the mantle of his father's virtue
If you're thinking purely in in tribal terms, yeah, okay, maybe hey i'm i'm still benefiting from what my great-grandfather did
No says the lord
I know both the father and the son
And the wickedness of one belongs to him
The virtue of the other belongs to him
Here's how he spells out the other side
No virtuous son shall suffer for the wickedness of his father
Here's the lord speaking though
a child shall not suffer
For the iniquity of a parent nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child
The righteousness of the righteous shall be his own the wickedness of the wicked shall be his
own
Here I think is what the prophet ezekiel under the guidance of the holy spirit is helping us to see
Though family identity is real. No one's denying that tribal identity
Our sense of belonging is something bigger than ourselves. Yes. That's all true
More to it and though our moral acts always have implications. That's also true
You know, they can't have negative impact on people to come after us. That's certainly true
Nevertheless nevertheless in the moral act
The individual
gathers himself
Defines his character
Stands in a very real and important sense
alone
in the presence of god
Let me say that again
in the moral act
I gather myself
I define my character
I stand on my own two feet in the presence of god
Again these acts take place in the real world. Yeah influenced by family culture society. Yeah. Yeah all that's true
Nevertheless
I
Show
God and the world who I am
in the quality and integrity of my moral acts
You know, can I put my philosopher's head on just for a second?
Against st. Thomas aquinas always comes through in a pinch with the pithy distinction
thomas distinguishes between what he calls an octus hominis
and an octus humanos
What's an actus hominis that means an act of a man? So let's say I sneeze
That's an act of a man
But it's not a human act. What do I mean? Well, it's not an act by which I am
gathering
And consciously defining myself. It's an instinctual reaction
Where someone comes up and and they start on me and I and I jump well, that's an octopus hominess an act of a man
But not an actus humanist
An octopus humanoids a human act involves the full engagement of the mind
I know what i'm seeking. I know the nature of this
and the full engagement of the will
I choose
I decide
Now both those things mind and will influenced by forces outside sure. They are of course they are but nevertheless
At that decisive moment when I gather myself
Knowing what i'm doing choosing it consciously in that great octus humanus in that great human act
I stand before god
I stand on my own two feet
and I define my
character
You know comes to mind here too. And I reference my favorite movie man for all seasons a lot
The great st. Thomas more when he's up against the pressure of king. Henry viii to give in as everyone all the all the
the leaders of that society had given in
And more is talking to his best friend norfolk and norfolk's trying to persuade him, you know like thomas come on. We've all given in
And more says in regard to his own convictions, but it's that I believe it
then he says no, but rather, no, not that I believe it, but that I
Believe it and see in some ways. That's the fulcrum on which that whole movie turns
Not that I believe it but that I believe it
More at that moment was summing up his whole life
Defining who he was
Not wrapping himself in the mantle of his of his virtuous predecessors
Not suffering from the wickedness of his friends around him
But at that moment fully engaging mind and will engaging in an octus humanus that I believe it
Now we know who he is now we know where he stands
Here's something from the philosopher dietrich von hildebrand
Who loved the three transcendentals the good the true and the beautiful, right?
Von hildebrandt said, you know look truth. Wonderful. Every philosopher seeks it
But what a wonderful thing if you're educated and you learn to read books and to think deeply and entertain, you know high ideas
But we would say if someone were incapable of that. Let's say they weren't that intelligent. They weren't well educated
They weren't given access to books, etc. We'd say well, that's that's sad. That's an unfortunate
Or let's say
The beautiful someone with a great aesthetic sensibility, you know, they they appreciate fine art
They can even create fine art how wonderful michelangelo and so on
And if someone were deprived of that
They never got an aesthetic education. They they had a talent that was never cultivated. We'd certainly say that's that's a sadness
But in regard to the good
In regard to the good to the morally upright
If someone's incapable of that
They fail in that regard. We don't just say how sad
We say that that's a calamity
That that's a tragedy
We're not gonna we're not gonna you know, morally blame someone that doesn't become a great philosopher or a great artist
But we are going to morally blame someone who doesn't cultivate the moral dimension of his life
What von hildebrand shows there is the primacy of the good
the primacy of the moral
and in light of ezekiel
How it's the moral act?
That defines who I am
Just one more reference to another hero of mine namely
Saint john, paul the second
So carl voitti will you know was a great moral philosopher that was his area of expertise
And he said this in his moral writings
Every time we perform a moral act we make a moral decision. We do two things
One is we we affect the world in a particular way. We we do this we move in that direction. We we uh,
Take this action
But then voitiwa said in a deeper way
We also are creating the person we are becoming
Let's think about that as a direct line it seems to me from ezekiel to john paul ii
When I make a moral decision now mind you i'm not talking about my decision to you know
Watch the baseball game or watch a movie
I mean that's a decision but not a morally important decision. I decided to have a ham sandwich or a turkey sandwich
that isn't a morally relevant decision, but
in the presence
of a moral choice
Knowing full well, what's at stake fully engaging my will when I do that sort of act I perform that kind of act
I'm defining the character that i'm becoming
Think of every moral act. This is a voitiwa idea. There's like a little brick in the wall
And with each one of those acts i'm building up the edifice of my own
character
And keep that in mind everybody. That's a very important idea again. I'm not talking, you know movie versus baseball game. I mean
Every time in the course of the day when you take a moral decision
You're not you're not wrapping yourself in the mantle of your grandparents
You're not you're not uh suffering because of what your children might be doing. But at that
Moment you are standing in a self-defining way in the presence of god
I think ezekiel chapter 18 represents a great breakthrough in consciousness
Now come all the way up through thomas more all the way to saint. John paul ii
And keep that in mind
As you're moving through your day
And you're making moral choice after moral choice
you're affecting your
world
You're also defining the person you are becoming
And god bless you
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