“Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;on his servants he shall have pity.” Deuteronomy 32:36
“But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Matthew 19:30
Piety
Let us pray: Jesus, please do not bring us to ruin for our ingratitude and inaction. Have pity on us for our lack of understanding of your mission and our role in its fulfillment. Give us a strong sense of humility so that we can take comfort in being last before you, because it is still a position before you. Deliver us from evil and grant us peace today. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/082206.shtml
Today’s readings do not give us comfort. Today’s readings prepare us for lives turned upside down and re-ordered before the Lord.
Ezekiel brings to light the conflict between man assuming he has God-like power over the world. He issues a wake-up call that brings us face to face with death when we assume the position of God.
St. Matthew takes a giant leap beyond that supplanting Man’s will with God’s will. In our measured society, Matthew reverses the order of the race. It’s not the Hummer that conquers the world. Its the Citroen 2CV.
Think how we have secularized God…we use God to enhance our position. We use God to get elected to political office. We use God to build networks. We claim God backs our money and our culture. We claim God is on the side of us in war and in peace, and even in football games.
Do we really think God is there guiding a Doug Flutie pass into the hands of the Gerard Phelan? Don’t we prefer to think that God might be up all night with more pressing problems on her mind? Can’t you just see God “up there” tsk-tsking us for our brash behavior?
The famous quote by Abraham Lincoln comes to mind when I read today’s warning from Ezekiel: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
It also brings to mind Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech on our responsibilities to respond to the gifts we have been given by God. Of course, this took place after Mandela served 27 years in prison for resisting the apartheid government of South Africa.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
We can not ignore the gifts we get from God. We must use them. But we also must remember where they came from and not lose sight that they can be taken away as swiftly as they were granted.
Action
McDonald's is giving away toy Hummers with every Happy Meal. They’re pushing the fun of driving a super-sized, smog-spewing, gas-guzzling SUV originally built for the military on our children and grandchildren. What are we to think about this? Misguided marriage of American excess and American excess?
Is this the best use of our gifts? Is this the best way to teach stewardship of God’s planet? Can we pass this up and get something better for our kids to play with??? Please.
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