Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - St. Bonaventure, Franciscan scholar and doctor of the Church
[Isaiah 7:1-9 and Matthew 11:20-24]Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm!
One of the major factors in the life of Israel from its beginnings as a united kingdom under David till its final destruction by the Romans in 135AD (and again today in some ways) was its location. It was constantly between the power of Egypt on the west and various Mesopotamian powers on the east: Assyria, Babylonia and Persia at different times. To maintain its existence in this uneasy geo-political situation, the various kings attempted to enter into alliances with either one of the superpowers or with neighboring kingdoms. Needless to say, these kingdoms were not Jewish and the alliances often contributed to the loss of religious fervor on the part of the Israelites who would tolerate the existence of pagan worship in order to maintain the alliances. The prophets again and again warned the kings and rulers of Israel that the only real protection they had was faith in God. Faith in those foreign alliances would lead to ruin. The prophets were largely ignored and the fate of Israel was settled by successive conquerors, including in addition to the ones already mentioned, Alexander the Great and then the Romans who would crush Israel twice. All of this would be interesting biblical history and nothing more if it weren't for that stark lesson about faith. History teaches that no nation is destined to last forever. "Modern" nation states are a product of the 17th century Western civilization, more particularly the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648! Human survival has traditionally relied on family and ethnic grouping, the bonds of which are deeply rooted in faith and common values. Our own American society is relatively young, but on an official level, we have allied ourselves with various political and economic and technological values which we believe will preserve us forever. Isaiah's message remains the same. "Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm." Individualism, capitalism, scientific materialism and theological/moral relativism are houses of straw which the big, bad wolf of history will blow down! AMEN
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