Worse than Calvary
WE often blame the devil for our sins. But the devil must have stopped tempting us to commit our favorite sins because he knows we can do that without his promptings.
Cunning that he is, the devil now tempts us to indulge in seemingly harmless luxuries, games, and relationships until we realize, too late, that these have become lethal addictions. He tempts us to surrender to mediocrity and settle for the easy life until we become prisoners of privilege and entitlement. He tempts us to crave being at the center of attention until we start believing the world revolves around us. He tempts us to become self-sufficient that we become too proud to ask for help. Through these, the devil hastens our joyride to the worst temptation of all – to be indifferent to
God. The late
Bishop Fulton Sheen once asked in one of his memorable sermons: “What is it that dries up the wells of repentance and makes us ignore the destructive power of sin? It is indifference. What makes the desire to be good almost impossible? It is indifference. What makes God seem so far away and so unreal? It is indifference.”
Indifference, or apathy, is the attitude of being unconcerned and unaffected. When one thinks that a person does not matter, he lets go of any involvement with that person. When we become indifferent to God, our instincts and desires run their natural course without any moral restraint. Our constant disregard of the voice of God in our conscience dulls and warps our inherent capacity to choose good over evil.
In his book “Who needs God?” Harold Kushner writes: “For many people today, the issue is no longer whether or not God exists, but whether or not He matters in their daily life. A God who exists but does not matter, a God to whom people are indifferent, to whom they are not accountable, might as well not exist.”
It is frightening to imagine a country governed by leaders who profess their belief in God, but have no qualms in separating their public life from their faith. They would engage in corrupt practices, pass legislation that are contradictory to Christian ethics, actively promote and receive payoffs from illegal gambling, murder suspected criminals, and commit other unChristian activities.
In his Lenten message in 2015, Pope Francis deplores this attitude of indifference that has become a worldwide affliction. He calls it the globalization of indifference. He writes: “Many of us have become incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. Indifference to our neighbor and to God is a real temptation for us Christians. It is a problem which we need to confront.”
To be indifferent to God is worse that crucifying Him on the cross, as Gorge Studdert Kennedy says in this immortal poem:
“When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree, they drove great nails through His hands and feet, and made a Calvary; they crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep, for those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap. When Jesus came to our town, we simply passed Him by, we never hurt a hair of Him, we only let Him die; for we had grown more tender, and we would not give Him pain, we only passed Him down the street and left Him in the rain. And Jesus, drenched to the bones, wept with tears no one would see, He crouched against a wall and cries, He cries for Calvary.”
For many people today, the issue is no longer whether or not God exists, but whether or not He matters in their daily life. A God who exists but does not matter, a God to whom people are indifferent,to whom they are not accountable, might as well not exist.