Today is the fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
A number of years ago Connie and I attended Mass in Michigan while we were on vacation and the priest started his homily by asking if we thought Catholicism was difficult. Initially people said no, they thought it wasn’t too difficult but as his homily went on we began to see that at times it could be hard.
I was reminded of that homily this week as my new home state of Alabama executed a man for a murder for hire that happened 35 years ago. They attempted to execute the prisoner in November of 2022 but the method of execution didn’t work right. With a new method they executed him on Thursday.
I’m sure you know that our Church teaches that the death penalty is “inadmissible” as Pope Francis wrote in 2018. All people are made in the image and likeness of God and as such they have a dignity that doesn’t go away because of criminal behavior. They may be guilty of a terrible crime but they are still God’s child.
It’s easy to be pro-life when the one being put to death is an innocent unborn baby but it’s more complicated for many of us when it is a criminal who did awful things, things that in the mind of many, deserve a punishment by death.
The real issue for me is whether I think I know better about these things than the Church and if I think I should be able to usurp some of God’s authority regarding life and death. Of course the answer is no.
In assenting to the teaching of the Church I am, like Job, acknowledging that I only see a slice of reality, a snapshot so to speak, while God sees it all. If you’re someone who wiggles in your chair over the death penalty I hope this is helpful. Remember, we can always pray for the victims of the crime that caused the person to be sentenced to death, and we can also pray for that perpetrator that he or she will turn to God as Nineveh did. Jonah wasn’t happy about it because he wanted to see them destroyed but we are called to pray for the good and the bad alike.
For reference here is more from the USCCB about the death penalty: https://www.usccb.org/committees/domestic-justice-and-human-development/death-penalty-capital-punishment
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
This and That BLOG 