Consequences for the children

Today’s first reading (Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22) brings us a prophecy of vivid images and these horrific words:

Old men, youths and maidens,
women and children
–wipe them out!

God is infinitely merciful and he extends his mercy abundantly to those who seek it.

God is also infinitely just and all people will see his perfect justice and mercy at his great judgment seat.

Yet God also gives mankind the freedom both to do good and to do evil and he lets the consequences of these good and evil deeds be manifested in the world.

Sin has consequences. The evil that people do has evil effects in the world: evil that affects other people, that infects the complex web of human relationships, and that leads young people into evil.

Cultural elites and politicians often say that any personal moral failings they have are private and no one else’s business.

While personal privacy should be respected, evil has consequences that impacts everyone, including children.

May the Lord give us the grace to repent, to turn away from the ways of sin, to be forgiven, and to help heal the evil consequences of the evil we do.