(Rom 6: 12-18; Ps 124: 1b-8; Lk 12: 39-48)
Our household has had a pet rabbit for five years. By nature of how God designed the universe, our rabbit is doing what God expects him to do . . . primarily eating, sitting in one spot for hours on end, and generating lots of fertilizer. In the wild, he’d be perfectly fulfilling part of God’s plan in another way (probably by being a snack for some meat-eater). The Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up this relationship between animals and God accordingly: “By their mere existence [animals] bless him and give him glory.” (CCC 2416)
Our rabbit is also incapable of sin. That’s not because he’s special; that’s just how sin works. It requires a human mind. Again, the Catechism offers one definition of sin: “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.” (CCC 1849) Animals don’t have free will nor the sapience to turn away from God’s plan. In short, they’re too simple to sin.
You might ask, how does this relate to today’s readings? I was reminded of our household’s relationship with our rabbit when I reflected on today’s Gospel selection from Luke. It’s a long reading, but the summary is that God will hold those of us who know better more accountable than those who don’t.
This makes sense. If I leave a book on the floor and my rabbit chews it, I can’t really yell at the rabbit too much; it’s doing what God designed it to do (be curious and chew). It’d be foolish to blame the rabbit, because it’s not making a conscious decision to be naughty. Conversely, if my son decided to tear up a book when he was four years old, I would probably scold him somewhat, but I’d also more fruitfully turn his attentions elsewhere; at four, he was old enough to understand that we should try not to destroy books, but not so developed mentally that I could expect him to remember all the time.
However, now that my son is nine, I know he won’t destroy books. If he were to tear up a tome, it’s because he’s consciously choosing to do so – in other words, he’s deliberately disobeying his parents – and would thus be punished accordingly.
I suspect some people read today’s parable from Luke and wonder, “How is that fair?” They look at it from the point of view of the ignorant servant, who is punished less than those who know better. Yes, those of us who follow Christ are held to a higher standard than those who haven’t yet heard the good news and opened their hearts to Jesus. Does that mean that we’d be better off not following Jesus and rely on our ignorance?
Obviously, no. Again, consider it from the point of view of the examples I offered before. Our rabbit is ignorant of . . . pretty much everything. He doesn’t recognize his own name. He doesn’t understand when we leave the house, or why we sometimes bother him to pet him. We have to clip his nails (or else they’ll grow too long and he’ll hurt himself); however, he panics and flails whenever we do so. Nothing we do will help him understand the seemingly inexplicable nature of his life; whenever we feed him, he eats as if he’s never been fed before, because he has no concept of time. When it thunders and lightnings outside, he cowers in terror because he doesn’t understand meteorology. In some ways, a rabbit’s life is an enviable one, but in most ways, it’s not; ignorance is a greater crutch than it is a shield.
Similarly, my four-year-old was held to less rigorous standards than his more morally developed nine-year-old self. However, that doesn’t mean that he was more fortunate when he was younger; as parents, we fervently hope and pray that he comes to understand the world in more and greater ways, until he is an adult mind that will (hopefully) meet or even surpass his parents in knowledge and wisdom.
How great it is to know God, and to seek to serve and understand Him! Today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans drives this point home: “But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.” In other words, those ignorant of Christ are winging it; they don’t know the teachings of Christ, they don’t realize that Jesus died for their sins, and they don’t have the God-given path to eternal life. They’re relying on their own moral codes and the conscience that lies in all our hearts, imperfectly realized or understood. It’s like seeing a destination in the distance and hoping your own direction sense gets you there; you might arrive at your destination, but it’s much more likely you’ll get lost . . . and it would have been much better to possess actual directions.
Christ gave us the “directions” to eternal life. We no longer need to be tempted to sin. We know a better path. But in the same way that we would mock someone who got lost because he decided not to follow directions he had and knew to be good, God expects more of us as followers of Christ. Our punishments will be greater if we haven’t prepared our hearts and minds for Christ’s arrival, because we knew better. Our call to action is clear: Live our lives as if the final judgment could come at any moment.
In the meantime, our rewards are so much greater than those who are ignorant; we have the Father’s love, Christ’s teachings, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. If we lose sight of the Master’s wishes and allow ourselves to become slaves to sin, that’s a much greater tragedy than if we’d been innocently ignorant all along. God made us all better than rabbits, and it’s up to us all to do what we can to use God’s gifts as worthily as we can. We’ve all been entrusted with much, and thus will much be required . . . and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
