More Rescue Needed

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.(Psalm 71:4) This cry of the psalmist echoes throughout salvation history as we find the people of God fall away from attention to God and being directed by the Will of God in our actions toward others. In the time of Judges in Israel, which Rabbi Ken Spiro marks from 1244 BCE to 879 BCE, leaders arise to unify the people, get them to repent, deal with the spiritual problems of the nation, and also deal with the physical threat. They are sometimes military leaders who know how to mobilize the nation for war against an enemy, but their real power lies in their Torah knowledge and ability to adjudicate Jewish law. The time of adherence to the Torah is presented by Rabbi Spiro as time when the people of God attend to their mission to live the Will of God and bring others to witness a people who know and trust God. In the text today, in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, from the Book of Judges, Sampson is announced as the leader who will begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. These vigorous sea faring people were pushing the Israelites back from the Mediterranean coast. Some commentators attribute the success of the Philistine domination to the failure of the Chosen people to completely reject pagan Canaanite influences. The Gospel from Luke tells of the annunciation to Zachariah of the birth of John, the son who he and his wife had prayed would be born, as a one under a Nazarite vow of dedication to God to call for repentance and offer as his name, according the Friar Jude Winkler, indicates the mercy of God to the people. The pattern of believers being led away from practice of love of God and love of neighbour, of course, continues in our time. Pope Francis' newApostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium - "The Joy of the Gospel" says ‘No’ to practice in society today which indicates that we are again forgetting our neighbour in pursuit of personal power and privilege through our choices to follow the dictates of human economic systems which fail to put people before profit. The pagan influence of consumerism, which values only our ability to contribute to the economy, is the modern hand of the wicked and grasp of the unjust and cruel from which the psalmist seeks rescue. The Incarnation of the Divine in our lives is celebrated at this time of year. This birth of Jesus within us calls us again to attend to being witness to the world of the mercy of God.