Memorial of St. Bonaventure, priest
(Matthew 11:20-24)
When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after his long exile in the United States, he warmly greeted everyone he met. Some people were scandalized that he could treat as friends former members of the Communist Party. But the wise author corrected his critics. “The line between good and evil,” he said, “is not drawn between nations or parties, but through every human heart.”
As Solzhenitsyn indicates, no group is so completely evil that every member is without honor. We can also confidently assert that no person is so perfectly guiltless that she has no need of reform. In the gospel Jesus condemns self-satisfied people who think of themselves as beyond reproach. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish towns where Jesus has preached repentance as preparation for the Kingdom of God. He has even worked signs in these places demonstrating that indeed the Kingdom is at hand. But the people have not changed their ways. Perhaps they think that keeping a kosher kitchen is enough to assure God’s favor. Or maybe they judge their non-scandalous sins as sufficient grounds for receiving God.
We Catholic Christians must not make the same mistake. We must not fall back on our baptism or even that we come to daily Mass to resist Jesus’ call to conversion. Yes, grace has put us on our way to God. But there are still obstacles in our way. We must recognize our will to have things our own way, our snubbing our noses at others, and the rest of our failings. Then, we need to ask God’s mercy and accept His grace to change.
