This is not my “normal” blog post, where I share the
milestones in my vocation journey along with a bit of my own encouragement for
deeper and deeper prayer lives among my readers. But as my hoped-for Ordination
is but a few weeks away, let me shift a little, and offer an opinion – a pastoral
opinion, as it were.
Over the past few weeks, there has
been much written about capital punishment. The unusual step March 5th
of a common editorial in America Magazine, the National Catholic Register, the National
Catholic Reporter and Our Sunday Visitor jointly called for the abolishment of
capital punishment throughout the United States. Pope Francis cited the death penalty as the opposite of divine mercy; coincidentally, the Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday this weekend.
Contrary views have been offered,
too, and some have offered their opinions in the secular media and social media
about the Boston Marathon bomber case, urging that Mr. Tzarnaev be given a
quick push into state-sponsored retribution for his crime. One such post asked,
“Give me a good reason why [Tzarnaev] shouldn’t get a one-way ticket to visit
his brother?”
I will offer two, which are inextricably linked.
First, consider The Agony in the Garden. In Luke’s account,
Jesus “… withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father,
if you are willing, remove this chalice from me; nevertheless not my will but
yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening
him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like
great drops of blood falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:41-44.)
Why?
Why such agony when there was as yet no physical
torture, no whips, no crown of thorns, no nails? Some suggest fear, but when we
consider the noble strength of Jesus throughout His Passion, without a word of
despair for Himself, we ought not to point to fear as the cause for His
anguish. Let me offer another cause: you and me, and the sins of the whole
world. We read in the Office of Readings (Wednesday of Easter Week) from 1
Peter: “In His own body He brought your sins to the cross, so that all of us,
dead to sin, could live in accord with God’s will.” In the Garden, Jesus
accepted and took upon Himself the sins of all humanity. He could not have
taken just some of them, or He would have denied His promised mercy and our own
gift of free will, the potential for each of us, as sinners, to turn back to
God.
The second reason I offer is The Cross. Not only did Jesus
take our sins upon Himself in his Passion, but He paid the price – in full – on
Calvary. Revelation 1:5b tells us that Jesus “… loves us and has freed us from
our sins by His blood.” Saint Paul reveals that, “Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price” (1 Cor
6:19-20.)
There are evil people in the world, and they have
perpetrated immeasurable acts of horror throughout history; our respective
justice systems at the state and federal levels need to deal with these crimes,
and the perpetrators, in a just manner. But, as Boston Cardinal Seán O’Malley
said in the joint editorial, “Society can protect itself in ways other than the
use of the death penalty.” To each of them, and to each of us, Jesus offers the
mercy of God’s forgiveness; He has already paid that price, as only He could
measure its worth. When you get down to the heart of the argument for capital
punishment, it remains a weak claim founded on revenge. This human race – created
by God in His image, claimed as the Father’s beloved daughters and sons, and
saved by Jesus – this human race is better than that, and should not be held
hostage in our hearts by a motive of revenge.
There has been enough death – too much – at human hands. I
choose not to add promoting more through capital punishment to the already long
list of offenses which Jesus has lifted from me, and taken upon the Cross
Himself.
Others may not agree with what Pope Francis and many
theologians have advocated. If you are not convinced, please do one more thing:
pray about this question before a crucifix, contemplating the wounds of Christ
and asking which of your own sins you are willing to have Jesus pick and choose
from, which you would have Him leave on your own shoulders.
“‘Has no one condemned
you?’ She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more’” (John 8:10-11.)
Amen.
