Word to the Wise
Friday, October 6, 2023 - Friday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Bar 1:15-22 and Luke 10:13-16]For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us, but each one of us went off after the devices of his own wicked heart, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. [Baruch] "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." [Luke]
Baruch is considered to have been the "secretary" of the prophet Jeremiah, who had warned Israel (the southern kingdom) about risky alliances with foreign nations, especially Egypt, to protect themselves from the Babylonians. Jeremiah had also warned Israel about allowing pagan worship to enter the land and ignoring the poor. As often happens anywhere, there can be an attitude toward God that says, "What have you done for me, lately?" The Babylonians came and conquered Israel, tore down the temple and hauled most of the Israelites off to exile which would last 70 years or so until the Persians conquered Babylon and let the Israelites go home. Baruch speaks to the feelings of the Israelites during the captivity. "This happened to us because we were unfaithful! We ignored or persecuted the prophets who warned us."
Jesus tells the disciples that the same thing would happen to those places that rejected him. He mentions two places in particular, but the evangelist is speaking to the experience of the early missionaries who had been preaching since Pentecost. Disaster in the form of the Roman army would happen to Israel in 70 A.D., when an effort at revolution ended, once more, in the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the levelling of the temple!!!
Who are the prophets of our time? Pope Francis has spoken out in two documents on the need to take care of the earth, our "common home." (cf. Laudato Si' and Laudate Dominum He has also spoken to the need for nations to let go of their pride and reach out to others in fraternal communion. [cf. Fratelli tutti]. The bishops of our country have spoken out in documents on nuclear war and economic justice. In all these cases, political and economic powers have roundly rejected these prophetic voices. When Pope John XXIII wrote in the same vein (cf. Mater et magistra and Pacem in terris)back in the 1960's, a prominent conservative Catholic writer, William F. Buckley, Jr. wrote, "Mater si, magistra no!" Are we any different than those who prayed in exile in Baruch or in the places that rejected Jesus? In rejecting these prophetic voices, are we rejecting "the one who sent me?" AMEN
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