The Yes-No Conflict

WORD 2day: Friday, 7th week in Ordinary time

February 25, 2022: James 5: 9-12; Mark 10:1-12

We have today a challenging call from James, almost echoing the words of his Master, Jesus Christ - let your yes be yes and your no, no. The yes-no conflict is a day to day experience that we have to grow conscious about. Three situations that can arise from this conflict:

First, we say a yes, where we should have said a No! That is the moment of our failure. Take experiences of habitual sins and spontaneous reactions. If we become conscious of it and accept our weakness, we can certainly grow out of it, with the grace of the Lord. But if we try to justify it, blame it on someone else or on a situation, we run the danger of ruining ourselves and our lives.

Second, the situation where we say a no, while we should have said a Yes! This is a moment of negligence. We could consider the missed opportunities to do good, to stand for truth or uphold justice. If we repent of it, we sould immediate take a stand and declare it clearly to ourselves and to others, thus making the experience of the Reign of God present around us. But if we do not realise it, or if we seek to by pass any critical evaluation of it, we allow sin to prevail, injustice to rule and that is contrary to the Reign.

The worst of our stands is when it is not clear, if we really say yes or no to it. Look at the Ukraine conflict going on - how certain are we about who is right - the Russian Sovereignty or the US and the NATO or the other Powers which are silent? Who is saying what - whose is yes and whose is no, here? If only we say a unanimous YES to love and humanity, what is happening would not happen! Is our Yes always a yes? It is a very crucial question to ponder - to whom and to what is my Yes and how determined is it?