For the homily today I want to focus on dung.
But
before so doing, I’ll tell you why this scatological topic comes to mind. In our first reading, Isaiah states, “Though your sins be like scarlet, they
may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they
may become white as wool.”
Martin
Luther famously said that we are nothing but piles of dung in the eyes of
God. For us to be justified in His
sight, God covers us—as dung—with a pure layer of snow, almost as if He tricks
Himself into thinking we are good.
Perhaps Luther had this passage from Isaiah in mind.
We
Catholics would disagree with Luther’s anthropology in at least two ways. First, while each of us have dung-like
qualities (our sins), we don’t believe humans to be completely wretched. While we fell in the beginning and
continue to fall each day, we are still created in God’s image and likeness and
thus are good—not wretched. Perhaps a better metaphor for us is
that our souls are like farms—indeed there are unsightly piles, but there is
also life.
Second,
we Catholics believe God actually transforms us—He doesn’t just hide our sins
underneath His own purity. Isaiah
hints at this important reality: “Though
your sins be like scarlet, they may become
white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.”
Even dung, if not wasted, can be used for good. Consider the fact that manure comes
from those piles and what was once disgusting can be a catalyst for life. God can take our sins, transform them (and
us) and use them to produce fruit in our own lives and even in others’
lives. For instance, my struggle
to overcome a particular sin today may eventually help another battling a
similar cross.
Lent is a time to be transformed. We look at the junk in our own lives
and through prayer, fasting, almsgiving and (above all) God’s grace we pray for
the grace to be purified from sin.
In addressing the dung in our own lives, may God bear abundant fruit in
ourselves and others.
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