Tuesday of the
Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 19:15-29; Matthew 8:23-27)
It may seem like the lesson of Sodom is merely one of
disgust with homosexual behavior. Remembering
the context of the story, we realize that the angels warn Lot to flee the city
before God annihilates it out of outrage from the townsmen’s attempt to violate
Lot’s guests.
But as often happens in Genesis, the wisdom is more profound than what
first meets the eye.
When the three strangers visited Abraham in the country, he
welcomed them like kings. He gave them
water to refresh their skin and a feast to restore their energy. Now in the city of Sodom,
Lot similarly treats two of the same travelers,
but his neighbors threaten them. Indeed,
the men of Sodom
move to rape the travelers as apparently is their custom. Their sin is not sexual crime but also violation
against the virtue of hospitality.
The men of Sodom, like those of Babel earlier in Genesis, demonstrate
the corruption of city-life. City dwellers
collaborate to advance their knowledge, but their progress sometimes sets aside
righteous living. Not feeling accountable
to anyone, they try to take advantage of the defenseless. Their quest for ever more adventure leads the
men of Sodom to abuse their guests. With
no antidote for such barbarity God must destroy them completely. Even in our age the sophisticated are prone
to rationalize contempt for life.
Abortion and now so-called homosexual
marriage are outrages that similarly call to heaven for remedy.
