Tuesday 15th week in ordinary time
"Mt 11:20-24"
Then he began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chora′zin! woe to you, Beth-sa′ida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Caper′na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Jesus had been preaching and performing miracles in those cities, but they would not repent. He had gone all the way to Chorazin and Bethsaida to teach them about the Mercy of God and the possibility of helping them to repent and restart a new life, but not many were willing to change. Their problem wasn't that they had done bad things (we all have). They probably had grown used to their sins and didn't have any interest in changing.
A family went to the circus. As they arrived early at the show they went to see the animals that were due to perform. Among them was a massive elephant. The boy was surprised that the elephant was tied to a small pole with a thin rope. He asked the handler why the elephant never escaped. "Oh boy, it did try!" answered the man. "When elephants are little they are tied to the pole. They try for a long time to escape with all their might but, since they are still babies, they can't. Eventually they give up. Elephants have a good memory. They never forget that it was impossible. So they never try again!"
It happens sometimes with sinners. They get used to their sins and eventually consider it impossible to change. In a way, it is true that it is 'impossible' for them to change... but "with God nothing will be impossible" (Lk 1:37). Chorazin, Bethsaida, Sodom, Gomorra, Tyre or Sidon, or Judas or Peter or Saul or Augustine or you or me... all of us can change for the better. We are all sinners called to be saints. We all have sins to regret and grace to accept. We can all stay, like the elephant, tied to our miseries and sins, wallowing in the mud of our temptations, or else we can cut off our ties with the help of God and break free to fly high, to Heaven! Just as Jesus went to those places, so He always comes to help sinners to repent. Quite rightly, St Augustine wrote, "there is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future." Mary, Refuge of Sinners, pray for us!
