Lost innocence unmourned

In Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons, the man whose perjury will be used to cause Saint Thomas More’s execution takes his first step down this road of betrayal and jokingly says, “I’m lamenting. I’ve lost my innocence.”

His mentor in treachery snaps back, “You lost that some time ago. If you’ve only just noticed, it can’t have been very important to you.”

Today’s first reading (Ezekiel 24:15-23) presents us with a dramatic prophecy of people who have lost their innocence with no lamentation at all.

You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins
and groan one to another.

It is very easy for us today to become desensitized to immorality and even to find ourselves having stumbled down a slippery slope of bad compromises and thoughtless moral choices.

May we always pray that God will give us the grace to recognize, repent, and seek forgiveness for our sins.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.