Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
“The wages of sin are death.” - Paul’s Letter to the Romans, 6:23a.
Death. There is nothing more certain in life than death (and taxes). Jews, Christians, and Moslems believe that death is the result of sin (separation from God), death itself being “the wages of sin,” Our culture's response to the reality of death is often denial. Or we might hear, “live for today as tomorrow we die.” A beer commercial expressed a similar sentiment: “You only go around once so grab for all the gusto.”
Although our funeral industry tries to mask it, death reeks. Literally. The putrid stench of skunks has been equated to the smell of death. Like death, skunks are almost always unexpected, never invited or welcomed, notorious for spraying a liquid with a rotting scent. This stench protects them from predators. Our neighbor's dog once met up with a skunk. Only after four baths with plenty of soap and water was the pooch washed clean of the horrid smell.
In the 17th century, Jesuits arriving from France to North America, were in awe of the various species of animals not present in Europe. One such animal was the skunk. In 1634, in The Jesuit Relations (accounts sent back to France from Jesuits in the “new world”) there was reference to a low animal, about the size of a little dog or cat. It is mentioned here, not on account of its excellence, but to make it a symbol of sin. The Jesuits proceeded to describe what a skunk looks like and concludes by noting its foul-smell:
“No sewer ever smelled so bad. We would not have believed it if we had not smelled it ourselves. Your heart almost fails you when you approach the animal; two have been killed in our court, and several days afterward there was such a dreadful odor throughout our house that we could not endure it. Hardly the order of sanctity, it was the odor of death.”
Does the stench of sin and death linger like that of a skunk? In faith we believe that by his Paschal Mystery, Christ has conquered sin and death. Far greater than scrubbing off the stench of skunks with soap and water, Christ Jesus has won the victory over sin and its wages, by washing it away by his precious blood, transforming foul stench into the eternal and potent odor of sanctity.
When our time comes, may God give us grace to welcome death as a friend, like St. Francis did. Washed in the blood of the Lamb, the foul smell of sin and death doesn’t stand a chance. In the meantime, stay away from the “black striped low animal, about the size of a little dog or cat.” And fear not death, because the odor of sanctity wins out every time.
—Timothy J. Cronin