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     The history of Israel during the time of the great prophets, before and after the Babylonian Exile, is one of struggling to maintain fidelity to the covenant and an identity as a people chosen by God.  The surrounding cultures offered religious expression that was very tempting, especially if agriculture was the center of prosperity.  Fertility was paramount.  The political authorities maintained stability by allowing pagan practices to flourish.  Prosperity meant benefits, however, only for a certain elite, and the poor and vulnerable were oppressed.  Hosea, in today's first scripture, takes aim at all of this.  Israel is compared to a prosperous vine that was rooted in pagan soil.  The better the crop, the more pagan the faith.  Hosea warns of God's wrath and begs the people to "break up a new field" so as to "reap the fruit of piety."

     Centuries later, the gospels continued this message, warning us of the dangers of material prosperity and how it can numb us to the reality of the poor and vulnerable of our society.  We begin to equate material wealth with God's blessings and poverty with God's displeasure.  The "American Dream" and "progress" and "the economy" become the new religion and there is no room for those who can't keep up!  All of this ignores the standard of success given by the Lord in Matthew 25:31-45.  The measure of success is how we have cared for the hungry, thirsty, naked, ill and strangers in our midst.  Our true "citizenship" is rooted in our baptism.  To the extent that we honor that commitment, our political nation will prosper.  It doesn't work the other way around.  AMEN