The Indifferent Generation
Jesus looks at his generation and calls it a childish generation which acts indifferently. They have become depraved and perverse. They reject that which is sane and good and embrace that which is evil. They call evil good and tag good evil. They spurn God’s love and become obstinate in their rejection of God’s goodness. John came and lived an austere life, they named him a mad eccentric and put his head on a platter of gold. Jesus came, ate, drank and socialized, and they tagged him a drunkard and dragged him to a cross. Our generation seems similar to that of Jesus in its indifference. We complain of lack of time, but we waste time gossiping, watching pornography, we pray for the fruit of the womb and also fight for the right to abort. We cry to God for protection, and we reject his laws about the use of freedom. The words of Saint Paul should stir us: “When I was a child I spoke like a child and reasoned like a child but now that I am old, I leave my childish ways” (first reading). We are people who have failed to respond appropriately to God and what he instructs us.
Jesus challenges such people in today's gospel with a parable of children in the marketplace, and we are too being challenged today. “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.” The image of playing a flute and singing a dirge and the subsequent failure to dance and weep reveals a certain disconnect that many people had to John the Baptist and to Jesus Himself during their ministries. Games are the favorite pastime of children who play until their energy is spent. The more interaction the merrier the game. The children in Jesus' parable react with disappointment because they cannot convince others to join in their musical play. They complain that when they make merry music such as played at weddings, no one dances or sings along - and when they play mournful tunes for sad occasions such as funerals, it is the same dead response. This refrain echoes the words of Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. Both joyful and sad occasions - such as the birth of a child and the homecoming of a hero or the loss of a loved one or the destruction of a community or nation - demand a response. To show indifference, lack of support, or disdain is unfitting and unkind.
In commenting upon this passage, Saint Augustine says that John the Baptist’s preaching was like a dirge that called people to the “weeping” of repentance. However, when he preached, there were many who failed to respond with the appropriate repentance. When Jesus came, He preached and gave witness to the new life of grace that He came to bestow. Though some listened and responded to Him, there were many who did not. Jesus’ message was like the music of the flute that was to inspire people to “dance.” But many failed to respond with the joy that they were invited to experience and live through His transforming message and grace. Though Jesus' message of the kingdom of God is a proclamation of good news that produces great joy and hope for those who will listen, it is also a warning of disaster for those who refuse to accept God's gracious offer. We must be alert!
Like the generation of Jesus' time, our age is marked by indifference and contempt, especially in regard to the message of God's kingdom. Indifference dulls our ears to God's voice and to the good news of the Gospel even our ability to love. Only the humble of heart who are hungry for God can find true joy and happiness. Do you listen to God's word with expectant faith and the willingness to trust and obey and put it in practice by love? As St Paul tells us in first reading, this is the way we ought to behave always.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, open my ears to hear the good news of your kingdom and set my heart free to love and serve you joyfully. May nothing keep me from following you with all my heart, mind, and strength.
Stay blessed.
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