Chutzpah and commitment

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Canada Day, resonate with the need in Canada prior to our Fall federal election to debate with the chutzpah of Abraham and continue our journey as a community of good and evil influenced by discipline and our prophetic gifts to enrich the country.

Canada journey

In the passage from the Book of Genesis Abraham Intercedes with God for Sodom.

* [18:20] The immorality of the cities was already hinted at in 13:13, when Lot made his choice to live there. The “outcry” comes from the victims of the injustice and violence rampant in the city, which will shortly be illustrated in the treatment of the visitors. The outcry of the Hebrews under the harsh treatment of Pharaoh (Ex 3:7) came up to God who reacts in anger at mistreatment of the poor (cf. Ex 22:21–23; Is 5:7). Sodom and Gomorrah became types of sinful cities in biblical literature. Is 1:9–10; 3:9 sees their sin as lack of social justice, Ez 16:46–51, as disregard for the poor, and Jer 23:14, as general immorality. In the Genesis story, the sin is violation of the sacred duty of hospitality by the threatened rape of Lot’s guests.1 

In Psalm 103 the speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits then moves on to God’s mercy toward all people.

* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22).2 

The Gospel from Matthew outlines some discipline for the would-be followers of Jesus.

* [8:18–22] This passage between the first and second series of miracles about following Jesus is taken from Q (see Lk 9:57–62). The third of the three sayings found in the source is absent from Matthew.3

Nancy Shirley comments that today’s first reading focuses on justice and finding the righteous among the evils of the world. We see that the Lord is willing to listen to Abraham and seek the good that was still in Sodom and Gomorrah. We know the rest of the story that Lot and his daughters were saved. Nancy is most pleased to know that amid the evil there is good, so rather than concentrate on the evil, she chooses to focus on the good that is still so abundant in this world… She is delighted that today (in the USCCB Liturgical Calendar) commemorates Saint Junipero Serro. Also known as the apostle of California, Saint Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar, founded a mission on the Baja and the first nine of the 21 Spanish missions in California.

A post by Franciscan media shares the zeal of this Franciscan and refers to the controversy around treatment of Native Americans in California at that time.

Don Schwager quotes “Following the Lord Jesus,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"'Come follow Me, says the Lord. Do you love? He has hastened on, He has flown on ahead. Look and see where. O Christian, don't you know where your Lord has gone? I ask you: Don't you wish to follow Him there? Through trials, insults,the cross, and death. Why do you hesitate? Look, the way has been shown you." (excerpt from Sermon 64,5)4 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 18:16-33 offers one simple, straightforward way to study Scripture that involves asking two questions.

Here’s the first question: Lord, how are you revealing yourself in this passage? At the foundation of this question is a belief that God wants to speak to us through his word…Here’s the second question: Lord, in light of this passage, how should I live? Sometimes passages clearly state the answer. In today’s Gospel, for example, Jesus announces, “Follow me” (Matthew 8:22). Other passages are different—like today’s first reading from Genesis. They don’t have a clear to-do message. However, they often contain hints. For instance, let’s say you were startled by Abraham’s audacity in speaking to God. Maybe God wants you to be bolder in prayer or to be blunt with him about how you’re feeling.5 

I have found that the question of mixture of good and evil is a theme that we easily identify with communities of people in cities and countries. It is a reality that we contain good and evil in our own person and life. The USCCB commemoration today of Saint Junipero Serro is an event that resonates with our modern struggle about the coexistence of good and evil. How can we use our saints of the day and statues to wrestle with the truth of our history that shows us people, even heroes and saints, as complex and residents of a time when our humanity struggled, as today, with treatment of others as children of God? The meditation direction from the Word Among Us today is one I have found particularly adept at translating the sacred texts to action for today.

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the friendship between God and Abraham, who tries to bargain God down, Following Jesus is a journey not an arrival. Friar Jude suggests that a delay of a year may be excessive in responding to the call of God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes a prophet as one who names a situation truthfully in its largest context without being pulled into dualistic factions. Scripture shows the Hebrew prophets speaking to the people as one of their own, not above or apart from the community. Prophets share in the problems and in the gifts of grace as they seek to guide the future toward something better for the collective. Prophecy is much closer to the Eastern idea of karma or that what goes around comes around. Prophets teach how reality works by sharing what’s going to happen. You keep destroying the earth, and you’re not going to survive. This is the karma of events: evil is its own punishment, and goodness is its own reward.

 While our society places great emphasis on the individual, true prophets are almost always concerned with social, institutional, national, or corporate evil and our participation in it. They only speak of individual sin when referring to kings, high priests, and other leaders who represent the whole. Frankly, that’s where Christians got our notion of church—from the Jews—that there has to be some kind of collective good or collective transformation that bands together, because there is no way that we as individuals can stand alone against corporate evil or systemic sin. Here the individual is useless. The individual will be bowled over and lose.
In many of his public addresses, Pope John Paul II reintroduced this concept when he referenced sin and evil as social, institutional, or structural. Sadly, his terms have been largely ignored, I think, because we lost the prophetic imagination or way of picturing both the problem and the solution.6

Fr Richard cites Jewish scholar Martin Buber who points out in his marvelous early study of the prophets, The Prophetic Faith, that usually what the prophets said would happen actually did not happen. On Canada Day, our reflection on the anxiety in our community may be an incentive to activate our Baptismal gift as prophets and ask questions to direct our community to the reward tomorrow of good choices today.

References

1	(n.d.). Genesis, chapter 18 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/18
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 103 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103
3	(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 8 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mt/8:37
4	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
5	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/07/01/
6	(2019, July 1). Speaking the Truth from Within — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://cac.org/speaking-the-truth-from-within-2019-07-01/