In our culture, we have specialized watchmen keeping an eye on our border to protect us from potential dangers. Few of us even think of the constant vigilance that is required to be on guard 24/7/365.25. Those charged with keeping watch have the difficult task to always be alert. If they fail at their task the resulting consequences could be severe. But what about those who don’t want to know?
In many of the Hollywood disaster movies there is typically the person sounding the alarm and the bosses want to ignore him or her because to listen would be unpopular or sound crazy. The watchman still has the obligation to speak up. We live in a world full of people who want to tell the pope, bishops, priests, deacons, religious to be quiet and be silent. They think they are sufficiently knowledgeable and have no need for moral lectures or some crazy person to tell them how to behave. Unfortunately, like in those Hollywood movies, many lives will be lost because of that attitude.
Despite our attitude that my private life is my private live and others are to keep their noses out of things God sees it differently. We are all connected. In today’s Gospel, Jesus picks up on this theme when he tells us that like the watchman, we an obligation to ourselves and to others. Do we even bother to listen?
Countenance of God 