The Sin Of Indifference

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐁𝐚𝐫 𝟏:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟕𝟗:𝟏-𝟑, 𝟓, 𝟖-𝟗 “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.16) 

Probably, many of us who will be reading this Gospel passage for the first time will interpret this as a reflection of the anger of Jesus towards the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida because of the use of the word “woe.”

         Woe is in fact a very strong word that can be interpreted as a curse or as an expression of anger by a person towards a wrong done to his person. But the word woe that Jesus used in this Gospel was one that carries with it sorrow and pity for a people who will never have a chance to enter the Kingdom of God.

         This passage also comes as a surprise especially since there is no record of what Jesus did in either of these two cities except for some references implying that Jesus did mighty works there.

         It is also probable that Chorazin and Bethsaida were simply dragged along with the people of Capernaum who are the object of the anger of Jesus and, again, to understand this we must look back at the ministry of Jesus.

         Rejected by the people in his own hometown, Jesus often traveled to Capernaum which was a bustling city but where the people’s customs and traditions are being influenced by the corruption foisted by the presence of a Roman garrison in the area.

         Jesus wanted the people of Capernaum who have sunk to the depths of sinfulness to embrace his message of salvation and deliverance, but most of the people remained unresponsive to the Good News that he brings.

        What made Jesus angry was not the rejection he met but the indifference of the people to his message. The Pharisees, on the other hand, busied themselves plotting and looking at every opportunity to either prove Jesus wrong or to silence him by arresting him on trumped-up charges.

         The people of Capernaum simply disregarded him, and this was what really got into the goat of Jesus because to be ignored and disregarded are probably much worse than being criminally persecuted and executed.

         At the end of the day, Jesus denounced the people of Capernaum “𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒖𝒎, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒆𝒔? 𝑵𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉𝒔.” (𝒗.15) History shows us that Capernaum was destroyed during the Jewish-Roman war in 66-70A.D. and although it was rebuilt to become a center of Judaism, the city of Capernaum was finally destroyed and occupied by the Arabs in the 7th Century.

         What this Gospel tells us is that we too stand to suffer the same fate as the people of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida if we will choose to become indifferent and ignore the message of salvation that Christ brings. Indifference is doing nothing or ignoring doing something even when the chance to do good is already in your midst.

         Indifference also comes in the form of your ignoring some of the five-point and eight-point covenants that you signed in the Community. You may be running away from assignments in your respective ministries. You may be dodging assignments to shepherd in the LSS, or you have not a regular in your attendance in the Corporate Worships and Word Sharing Circles. All these constitute what amount to indifference which could be a form of grieving the Holy Spirit.

         But the greatest sin that we as baptized Catholic Christians can ever commit is to be indifferent by ignoring the presence of Christ and His Word of salvation and deliverance. Not only were the people of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida indifferent but they were unrepentant as well and Jesus stresses that it would have been better if he brought his message to Tyre and Sidon instead.

         Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida could have been spared the wrath of God had they repented and accepted the Good News and Jesus was showing us that what may happen to the people of these three cities will also happen to us if we will persist in ignoring his call.

            Repentance brings a change of heart and way of life and in love Jesus is calling us to walk in his way of truth, love and holiness and the question we need to ask ourselves now is are we embracing His Word with genuine faith and obedience? Because the other alternative is unbearable.

         As I have told you in one of my earlier reflections there was a man who kept holding off his decision to become a Christian saying “I will follow Christ one of these days.” Unfortunately, he never saw “one of these days” because God called him in “one of those days.”

         We should not play games with our lives since time is a luxury that we don’t have. It’s either we live in and with God or we don’t. If we choose to be in and with Christ, then eternal salvation is within our reach. If we choose to reject, ignore and disregard Christ, then it is no different from putting a millstone tied around our necks and be thrown to the depths of the sea.

         To be in and with Christ is to move out of our comfort zones. I heard an American Catholic evangelist some years back who once said in a seminar I attended that renewed Christians are always on the go. This means Christian disciples won’t let the day pass without bringing Christ to others.

  He said the time for talking is over. We are now in a time that requires action. How true indeed because not to bring the Gospel of Christ to others is an act of indifference and could be regarded as a rejection of not only Jesus Christ himself but even the One who sent Him.

         About 10 years ago, the Church issued a call for New Evangelization – a program that was addressed to all the faithful to go out into the deep and bring the gospel of Christ to the world especially baptized Christians who are no longer practicing their Catholic faith. What has happened since then? Has the Church checked if the program succeeded, progressed or faded into the sunset the way other Church programs did.

         This call for New Evangelization was in response to the call of Jesus in 𝐌𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟎 and when the Lord calls, he does not look into your credentials but on the disposition of your heart because at the end of the day, it will be the Holy Spirit who will equip you with his gifts.

           Perhaps it is time to look back and see where we are now in relation to the New Evangelization program. If it is still alive and active, well and good. But if it has somewhat died down, maybe we could use the new communication technologies of the present time to begin again and revive the New Evangelization program with even more vigor and enthusiasm. Because to balk at our duty to evangelize is similar to being indifferent to our faith from which there is no reparation. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 3, 2025)