The righteous and the wicked

The conclusion of the passage from the Letter of Paul to the Romans today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary is the often quoted phrase “the wages of sin is death”. Modern society does not discuss death very much. We have pushed the events around end of life aside from the main events of daily life. The demographics of Western society, however, indicate that death will be all around us soon. The choice presented to the Gentile Christians was, according to Friar Jude Winkler, an unexpected one. The religiosity of the pagan society was based on pacifying deities through recitation of ritual prayer. The morality of living was not seen as a factor in the quality of our relationship with God. The Jewish Tradition as expressed by the psalmist differentiated between the scoffers, wicked, evil ones and those who meditate on the Law of the Lord. The righteous know the peace and prosperity of trust in Providence as their foundation. The wicked, like chaff, are blown away by the wind. The death to which Paul refers for the immoral begins as we decide to disconnect from our solid place following the Will of God and let ourselves be directed toward self gratification, pride, privilege and power. This direction is popular in our society. The severe rejection which Luke describes for those who choose to follow this Way of movement toward righteousness can be understood when we realize how the society of mercy, compassion, cooperation, charity, peace and universal brother and sisterhood where we are our brother’s keepers threatens those on the power and privilege path.