In today’s reading from the book of Daniel, we hear the tale of the two judges who attempt to seduce Susanna; they think that they are so important, and carry such authority among the people, that they can get away with their sin, because Susanna’s side of the story will never be believed. Led on by lust, they abuse their position of power: they ‘turn away their eyes from looking to heaven’ (Dan 13: 9), where alone they can find a guide to right judgement. These men, then, are an example of hypocrisy, judging others as their profession, but not applying right judgement to themselves (and, indeed, trying to use the law to cover their wrongdoing).
In every sin there is a turning away from heaven, the source of our right judgement, which is why it can be said that pride, failing to recognise a truth beyond “my truth”, lies at the root of sin. How can we avoid this, though? The tradition of the Church opposes pride to the virtue of humility – of being capable of looking beyond ourselves and our own interests, because of an awareness of the truth about ourselves in relation to other people and to God. The season of Lent helps us to cultivate this virtue by our works of penance and it provides us with the greatest example of it in the passion and death of Jesus. As our celebration of Holy Week draws nearer, then, let us seek to grow in humility, in imitation of him who ‘humbled himself and became obedient unto death’ (Philippians 2: 8).
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