Every few years I like to reread, Dante’s Divine
Comedy. And this morning’s reading from the
prophet Hosea reminds me of a scene very early on in Dante’s Inferno. After
venturing through the gates of hell with his guide Virgil, Dante the pilgrim
comes to the second level of hell—the level of hell set aside for the eternal
punishment of those unrepentant of the sin of Lust.
In Dante’s poem, the punishments are different for every sin,
and the punishments fit the crime. The Wrathful for example are condemned to an
endless physical and violent battle against each other—they were wrathful on
earth, and so they are subject to the wrath of others forever in hell.
The punishment for the Lustful is to be blown about by overwhelming
winds and whirlwinds for all eternity. Dante was likely inspired by the line
from the Prophet Hosea this morning: “those who sow the wind, shall reap the
whirlwind.” Those in hell reap in eternity what the sowed in their earthly life.
Dante reserves this particular punishment for the Lustful
because in life they allowed themselves to be blown about by their sensual
feelings and bodily craving. Ignoring the commandments and the use of right
reason, they only followed their bodily desires, which are as fickle as the
wind.
Yet, this is a problem not just for the Lustful. Saint Paul
warns the Ephesians about “being tossed here and there, carried about by every
wind”. He warned the Ephesians of
allowing themselves to be carried by the various cultural winds, the various ideological
currents, making a political agenda or social ideology the impetus of their
lives rather than the Gospel.
This line from Hosea was the inspiration for another
literary work, Harper Lee’s American Classic, “Inherit the Wind”…which focuses
on the ideology and injustice of racism.
But again, those who “sow in wind” are not just the lustful,
but those who are not firmly rooted in the truth of the Gospel. If we are not rooted in prayer and knowledge
of the Word of God, we’ll be blown about by whatever catches our fancy.
Folks aren’t coming to Sunday Mass because they have some
intellectual opposition to the Sunday obligation, but because they are doing
whatever they want. Young people aren’t
cohabitating before marriage because they’ve studied the church’s theology on
marriage and found it lacking. No, they are being blown about by the winds of
the culture and their passions and choosing not to think about what they are
doing.
We even describe the sin of gossip as getting “caught up” in
gossip, or grumbling and complaining, like we are “caught up” in some
windstorm.
When we surrender our intellect and our faith to the winds
of human desire we are going to be blown to places we aren’t meant to go. So, God help us, to remain firm against the
various bad winds which blow throughout society today, and remain rooted in
faith, prayer, the study of scripture, the lives of the saints, and works of
charity, in order to be faithful to the Gospel of Christ for the glory of God
and the salvation of souls.
That all bishops and clergy will lead the Church well in standing
strong against the winds of error and immorality in our modern culture.
For all those who have fallen away from the Church, those who have
fallen into serious sin, for their conversion, and the conversion of all
hearts.
For Pope Leo’s prayer intention for the month of July: For
respect for human life—for the respect and protection of human life in all
its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God. Let us pray to the Lord.
For
all the needs of the sick and the suffering, for all those recovering from or
undergoing surgery today, and for the consolation of the dying.
For
all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom
this Mass is offered.
Incline
your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the
supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord
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