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Daily Scripture

+ 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

Keep hope alive!

Readings: Revelation 5:1-10 Psalm 149:1-6, 9 Luke 19:41-44

_As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “if this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.” [Luke 19:41]

In Christian liturgy and literature, he Church has often been referred to as “the new Jerusalem” and heaven as “the new and eternal Jerusalem.” I think it’s a good simile. If you have ever been to the old section of Jerusalem, you surely would have noted the appropriateness of this comparison. Ancient Jerusalem is still very much in evidence if not literally, surely in its ambiance. A walk from the site of the ancient praetorium to Calvary – now well within the city limits – will surely give you a sense of what it may have been like when Jesus made that last fateful journey.

Today Jerusalem is truly an international city and bears within its womb and walls, the extremes of every race and religion. Jews still narrate the story of the great exodus and Christians break the bread of Eucharist while Islamic temples broadcast their ancient chants from minarets that echo through the streets in the wee hours of the morning.

This is the city over which Jesus wept not because it did not make him king but because it did not recognize its day of visitation, that is to say, its moment of opportunity. In reading a passage such as this, we need to put away preconceived notions about our understanding of Jesus’ messianic role in the light of its Christological evolution in Christian teaching today. Jesus was not about establishing new religious structures but about announcing the universality of God’s love – for Jews and gentiles, male and female, of every race and nation.

Would it be accurate to state that Jesus is weeping not just over Jerusalem but over our war torn world? And yet one cannot fail to see signs of hope on the horizon. Bernard Lonergan, Carol Rahner and Carl Jung support this very Christian notion that it is in our moments of deepest despair that a new wisdom emerges leading to a common vision of a new world in which love and respect overcome evil and injustice. Is it possible that in the midst of the turmoil in which our world seems enmeshed people of good can bring that vision to reality not through confrontation but through collaboration?

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Saturday September 22, 2007

We are stewards of justice

Someone asked me recently if I thought changes are occurring at a more rapid pace than twenty or thirty years ago. He is of the same ‘vintage’ at I—in the seventies. I paused and then embarked on a rather complex analysis of the theory of relatively coming to the conclusion that yes, the pace of change over the last twenty years has increased exponentially and gives every indication of occurring more rapidly in the future. (I read an article in the science section of the New York Times a couple of years ago suggesting that indeed it is not just the passing of time that makes it appear that changes are occurring more rapidly. In fact they are.)

The gentleman then observed that we do not appear to be more civilized than we were twenty or thirty years ago. In fact, the more things change, the more they stay the same or worse.

He was addressing the old problem of evil in the world and never ending threat of annihilation either by sword or by the exponential deterioration of ecological systems that support life on this planet.

Although there can be no concession to predators of any kind or species, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to the ideals on which our nation was founded and even more so to the principles of the great world religions that good can triumph over evil. Indeed, our faith seems to be calling to us from the depth of our soul as individuals and as a church to a new level of discipleship with Jesus; one that consoles us but one that also challenges us to a new high in our moral combat against the aggression of evil-doers and against anything and everything that contributes to evil or injustice.

As I reflected on the Scriptures for this weekend, it occurred to me that the evil that lurks in the heart of humanity or as Carl Jung phrased it, in the “shadow” of our personality, can erupt in many forms and with many faces. Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde are parodies of our own lives — at one time receptive to divine grace at other times the very antithesis of divine love. Our dated theological explanation provides the explanation that the inner struggle between good and evil is deeply rooted in the moral collapse of humanity through Original Sin. However we explain it, no one can deny the reality of this tension within the human soul. But the greatest evil is that which is characterized as a good. Terrorism wears no mask. It is what it is. But evil in the guise of good impairs the ability of the human spirit to discern right from wrong until the harm has been done.

That the prophet Amos was aware of this tension seems to be reflected in his anger toward those of his own countrymen whose selfish interests blinded them to the needs of the poor. Justice is at the core of God’s relationship with humanity in both the Old and New Testaments. The oppression of the poor was an evil deeply rooted in the human spirit deceived by the attraction of good, but confronted by all the prophets and ultimately by Jesus himself.

This humble shepherd of Tekoa who pinched and pricked the fruit of Sycamore trees to rid them of bugs so that they could ripen fully was called by God to pinch and prick the consciences of his kindred. He was empowered by God to speak forcefully to the powerful in behalf of the exploited and powerless poor unable speak for themselves. The rulers and the ruling class were not evil but they had succumbed to evil in their relentless pursuit of wealth and power resorting to exploitation, cheating and even the sale of the poor who were unable to carry their own weight or pay their own way.

I can still recall childhood trips to the butcher with my grandmother who kept her eyes peeled on the scale lest the butcher press the scale with his finger to increase the weight of the meat. Sellers still readjust odometers in one form or another and, for whatever reason, deceive their customers. Buyers and sellers still look for bargains and special deals that breed sweat shops around the globe. Several years ago, I purchased a used car from a relative. A friend advised me that I really didn’t have to report the full amount I paid on the tax form because the state would not know what I actually spent. “Whoever is faithful in small things is faithful also in greater; and who ever is dishonest in small things is dishonest in the greater.” These are the words of Jesus to his disciples as recorded by Luke.

If we were as enterprising in promoting global justice as we are in promoting consumer hunger for more, I suspect our efforts would yield a different kind of fruit. Our personal and national budgets are theological documents, testimonies of faith or lack thereof. There is no price on integrity and it is indeed costly to pursue the path of righteousness in the face of contemporary mercenaries and predatory practices in the marketplace.

So as we struggle in the face terrorist threats of unspeakable destruction, we move forward to a new high in our discipleship with Jesus in solidarity with people of good will everywhere. Not only will we proclaim justice, we will do justice in a manner befitting our heritage and our faith tradition. May I suggest that as we continue our war on terrorism, we also gear up for our war on poverty? I suspect that the latter will ultimately affect the former is a significant and substantive way — much more than weapons of mass destruction.

We must not shrink from our stewardship of the earth and its resources and our responsibility to work for the fair distribution of bread within and beyond our borders.

Globalization has become the occasion of increased exploitation of the poor but it can also become the opportunity for eliminating global poverty and path to justice for all humanity.

“Keep hope alive!”

For the homily delivered at the 8:30 AM Liturgy at Assumption on this the day of rededication of the newly rennovated church and sanctuary, please click “Notes, Quotes and Comments” found among the links to the right of this page.