In the first chapter of his book the prophet Isaiah rails against his sinful generation. They are like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the arch sinners in the Bible. They are “doing evil.” Their sins are “like scarlet,” they are “crimson red.” But the list of sins the people are guilty of are not the ones we expect. They are condemned because they do not “redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.” For the Prophet, real sinfulness does not so much consist in violating this or that commandment but in neglecting those who are marginated or in need. Do I see things as the Bible does? Maybe when I go to confession I need to examine my conscience using Isaiah’s categories!
