There are a couple of interesting phrases in the Bible. Some of them you wonder why they are there and others you laugh when you see them. You realize that's humorous. Let me give you an example: Exodus 16 verse 15, Almost sounds like you could see it in the movie Airplane. The Lord left Manna in the desert and Exodus 16:15. Says, and “They looked at the Manna and said to themselves, what is it? Because they didn't know what it was.”
There's another part in the Bible in Leviticus that has an interesting rule in it. It says, do not put an obstacle in front of a blind person and you have to ask the question, why do you have to have that rule in there? Isn't it fairly obvious? But there's is a rule. It's literally in Leviticus.
This is God speaking to Moses. To speak to the people. This is a rule that is in the Bible. Do not put an obstacle in front of blind people. There you go. And when you look at that, you see that those rules in those things are there for a reason. And you wonder, why?
I don't know if you heard of something that happened this week, there was a young hockey player for a university in Pennsylvania, who was in a bar and he happened to be standing outside the bathroom. Right next to the bathroom, there was a wheelchair and the reason why the wheelchair was there is the person who used the wheelchair was in the bathroom and actually had to be carried to the bathroom.
The hockey player happened to see this and thought he'd have a little fun and rolled the wheelchair down the stairs.
And when I saw that he went to a university and I said, please let it not be a Catholic University. Please let it not be a Catholic University. It was.
Therefore, I said, now, I know why that rule is in the beginning, I get Leviticus. Some people have to be told, do not put an obstacle in front of a blind person. Do not roll wheelchairs, down the stairs.
Now, the reason why I tell you those things is when I talk to you about these things, one of the things I always say is to remember that we're called to a deeper level than the rules. If you focus on having to follow the rule, your short cutting that relationship with God.
You're just saying: “This is the rule.” I have to follow the rule and it calls for a very superficial way of living, but we're called to a deeper level which means see seeking the wisdom of Christ. By seeking the wisdom of Christ, we know how to live our faith.
One of the interesting things we can see is in the letters of Paul. He actually gives us a deeper standard because if we seek to follow the rules, that's what the Pharisees do. Well, we have to follow the rules. But what is the standard? St. Paul says “You are children of light.” It's a higher standard.
You are called to be children of light and what do children of light do? They shine light into the darkness? That's what he's talking about. That's what our call is. It is actually in the teaching on baptism that when you are baptized you are enlightened in Christ because we are called to live as you know at that higher wisdom that teaches us to live in a different way. So when we understand that, we understand that we're called to live in a way that is not just yes or no or good or bad, it is following the wisdom of God and by doing that, we're called, what St. Paul says, to bring light where we are going
It's an interesting way to look at it. I was kind of thinking of it this way:
You can walk in the supermarket. You walk down the household products aisle. And you see all these household products and you see all the different cleaning things you can use. You can use this for cleaning windows and you can this cleaning toilets and you can use this for disinfecting and use all the stuff and all these things are there that you can buy.
There are two products there that if you had one year of high school chemistry, you know, you are never to mix. I'm not going to say with the products are, if you don't know what they are, ask someone. You're not supposed to mix then. If you do mix them, it's deadly.
As a matter of fact, in Burlington a couple of years ago, there was a case of apparently, someone who did mix the two products—simple household, chemicals. The manager saw this and immediately called everyone to leave the restaurant and the kitchen and get out. He tried to fix it, but he died.
Don't mix those two chemicals, but if you understand why, it's not a rule, if you see someone, which is usually the way it works saying, well if this stuff cleans and this stuff cleans if I put them together, it's really going to clean. You see someone do that. You're going to step back and say: “No, don't do that.” Why? Because You understand more deeply, why you're not supposed to do that. You know, that's going to be disastrous. You're working at that, higher level and therefore, that's kind of what Paul is saying. Work at that level that we are called to be agents of light, not simply knowing rules, but coming to live the faith in that powerful way, that it touches. Everything we do, which is a different standard and it more difficult one a higher standard.
One of the things that I am not a great fan little pamphlets for examination of conscience. And, I mean, there were okay. But the one thing that bothers me is, sometimes you can read them and I can say: “An atheist can follow this.” I mean, there was nothing in there that an atheist shouldn't do.
Did you steal today? No, actually, I didn't and all that stuff going down the line. And, you know, that you could go through a million of the examinations of consciences, and you will never see one that says, did you push a wheelchair down the stairs? or for that matter. did you, did you put an obstacle in front of a blind person?
But if you're looking for a good examination of conscience simply ask yourself these two questions. Where was I an agent of darkness and where was I an agent of light?
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