Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - Wednesday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 and Matt 10:1-7]Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; the more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up. Their heart is false, now they pay for their guilt....[Hosea]
The prophet Hosea, preaching in the late 700's BC in the northern part of the now divided kingdom of Solomon, during a properous economic period before the Assyrians attacked and destroyed that part of the kingdom, puts his finger on a problem that is still with us. During times of prosperity, people tend to look for a God(s) of their own design, or for religion that feeds their economic situation. In the case of the northern kingdom of Israel (the southern kingdom was Judah), the population began to turn to the Canaanite fertility-based religion. This could include not just agricultural deities as Hosea mentions, but also temple prostitution.
Hmmmm....we say. Don't think I do that sort of thing! If we worship an economic system that actually causes greater poverty because the god of profit drives business practices (cf. the 2008 crash), are we any different? If we look for a church where the "gospel of prosperity" numbs us to the realities of the poor in our land, are we not seeking a temple that panders to our lifestyle rather than challenging us with Jesus' teachings? This can happen in our very own Catholic Church! And it is done with very good intentions but with a numbed sensitivity to those to whom our baptism should direct us. It happens gradually and we may not notice it until all of a sudden (so it seems) the bottom falls out on US. Perhaps our next examination of conscience could include the list in Matthew 25:31-45. "Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, this you do unto me." AMEN
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