Solidarity in sin

July 7, 2023 - Friday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm 106:1b-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

Psalm 106 has an interesting structure. It begins with praise but then moves to the confession of sins and ends with the request for salvation. The psalm ends the fourth book of the Psalter (Pss 90-106) that reflects on the tragedy of the Babylonian exile in 586 BC. By narrating for us the history of Israel’s sin from the times of Moses, the author makes a point that the Babylonian exile was also a consequence of Israel’s sins. But this solidarity in sin does not make him lose hope. On the contrary, he looks to God with hope. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever” (Ps 106:1). As the Lord showed again and again mercy to his ancestors, the psalmist trusted that he would show mercy to the generation of the exile people as well.

I would like to apply the main thought of this psalm to the history of the Church which is also marked by sinfulness. Our first pope denied Christ three times and many popes did not live up to the standards of the Gospel. Since the beginning many Christians could not conform to the moral standards of the Bible and today is no different. There were bad priests and bishops in the past and there are also today. Such condition of the Church has led many people to separate themselves from her. But what does that leaving indicate? Did psalmist separate himself from his sinful people? Did he consider himself better than them?

We are all familiar with Jesus’ statement: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Who among us is without sin? The psalmist says that “Blessed are they who observe what is right, who do always what is just” (Ps 106:3). But, neither the generation of Moses nor the generation of the psalmist could do what was just. And so the psalmist confesses: “Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness” (Ps 106:6). This solidarity in sinfulness is at the heart of Christian doctrine of justification: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). But what happened to that solidarity in sin today?

Although aware of the sinfulness of his people, the psalmist did not leave his community. Instead, he composed a poem that invited his readers to repentance and trust. Leaving a community of sinners does not solve anything, since we are all sinners. The solution lies in acknowledging our sinfulness and asking the Lord to save us from ourselves. There is a beautiful statement about the Church in one of the documents of Vatican II. The Church embraces in her bosom sinners. And then it continues by stating that the Church is “at the same time holy and always in need of being purified” (Lumen Gentium, 8). This statement should protect us from searching for an ideal community of perfect and sinless people on this earth. There is no such community and no such people. There are only sinners who think that they are saints and the saints who know that they are sinners. Which one are you?