Isaiah addresses the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah today, telling them to wash themselves clean of
their sins, that they can instead put aside sins that are a brilliant scarlet
red, making them as white as snow. Sodom
and Gomorrah are infamous in our day for cities who have turned their back to
God and who have reveled in their sins, really making a mockery of God. Recently the historic district neighborhood
of Yazoo City, of which we are a part of, was named as one of the best
neighborhoods in the South by a national publication, something for which we
can be proud. Yet, when our city is
suffering from crime, violence, and unemployment, when I am so jumpy and
skittish to be in the parish offices at night alone because of a recent break-in,
when our schools are riddled by gangs and our young people have to leave the
area in order to make a decent living, I wonder what it means to be called one
of the best neighborhoods in the South.
I wonder if God would be proud of us, or if he would give our community
a warning like he did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Repent, and believe in
the Gospel!” We heard this in our Gospel
reading on the first Sunday of Lent.
That seems to be the theme that Isaiah is bringing to us today as
well. We need to search our hearts to
see where God is asking us to change, both as individuals and as a
community.
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