WeMany of us have heard the remark that we live in such a litigious society today, which of course means: more people are out to sue other people than ever before.

And while this is a relatively new phenomenon in our society, it appears that it is going to be part of our culture for a very long time to come.

It does fly in the face of our Biblical admonition to settle with our opponents on the way to court lest matters get more complicated than we expect.

And it’s true: many good lawyers do try to settle their client’s cases out of court because usually everyone concerned stands to benefit all the more.

But the sad part of being such a litigious society is that the law seems to be the only recourse people have that means anything.

Many of you have heard me say frequently over the past several years: The real conscience of people today  is not the Church, the Commandments, or the clergy, it’s the courts in that people will do or not do something depending on whether or not they’re going to get sued.

That’s what then leads to this rampant mentality I’ve heard referred to as “the drive to demonize,” someone always has to pay for what bad things happen.  And that mentality just totally dismisses the “forgive and forget” Christian virtue we are called to practice.

It’s understandable: we are human.  And we don’t want to pretend like nothing happened because then we would be putting ourselves in the position of being re-injured by the same offender all over again.

So admittedly, it remains an on-going challenge for us to rise above any grudges we hold and really get ourselves into the repentance, reconciliation, and resurrection we profess to believe in as disciples of Christ:

The atonement, The making-up with others, And the getting on with the tomorrows of life.

Our second reading from St. Paul to the Romans closes by reminding us that we have received the grace to reconcile with others through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We just have to reach out and take advantage of it by making the first moves, which often involve swallowing  some pride.

And, since this is Father’s Day, let’s remember the story of the prodigal son.

Yes, he squandered his inheritance. But his father took him back and rejoiced in the reconciliation with a big party.

True, the wayward son did not get his inheritance back. That was his atonement. But he got re-connected to his loved ones, and could get on with the rest of his life. 

These are very much the values we need to bring hope to an otherwise discouraging experience of life, life forever lived in fear of being sued.

       Thank you.