Sandoz and his commitment to God

          As mentioned in the last post I am still interested to find out what changed Emilio’s love for God. In this section of the book Emilio meets the Runa and it says Emilio was, “Smiling and in love with all God’s work,” (Russell 228). It seems as though Emilio has never been closer to God and that he is finally finding his way as a priest.

            Later Emilio struggles with the idea of having a family with Sofia because Jimmy seems to take an interest in her. He starts to feel as though he is mourning something and finds out that it is the loss of opportunity to be with Sofia if a relationship sparks with her and Jimmy. Sandoz seems to be fighting with his commitment to God and his love for Sofia and need to have children.

In the future, when Emilio is talking to Edward he makes it seem as if he chose to be with Sofia. He says to Edward, “have you ever wondered about the story of Cain, Ed? He made his sacrifice in good faith. Why did God refuse it?,” (Russell 285). In the story of Cain and Abel, they are both asked to make a sacrifice of a sheep for God. Abel gives God his best sheep but Cain, however, thinks that God would be fine with one of his crops that he has plenty of. God, on the contrary, appears to prefer Abel’s sacrifice and rejects Cain’s. In Emilio’s situation it would seem he is trying to say that he chose to be with Sofia and thought that God would accept this. He may have even had good reason to be with her but in the end God did not like what happened.

            I wonder if this is the point in time in which God and Emilio drifted apart and where he lost his deep love for Jesus. He said that he prayed to God about the situation, but “God was silent on the matter,” (Russell 307). This may have been a sign that God did not want Emilio to be with Sofia but maybe Emilio ignored this sign.

            In the Jewish tradition people are punished for their sins and rewarded for obedience. I would appear that if Sandoz chose to be with Sofia maybe he was punished for his actions which lead him to lose sight of God. Maybe it was because he was a priest that made his sin even more dishonorable and was punished more severely for his actions.   

By Katherine Pellin