July 19, 2011
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the LORD had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. (Exodus 14:30-31, 15:1)
(Jesus said) “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mathew 12:50)
Piety
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
worship the LORD with cries of gladness; come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God, our maker to whom we belong, whose people we are,
God's well-tended flock.
Enter the temple gates with praise, its courts with thanksgiving.
Give thanks to God, bless his name; good indeed is the LORD,
Whose love endures forever, whose faithfulness lasts through every age. (Psalm 100)
Study
In 1979, a TV documentary entitled “Scared Straight” featured a group of juvenile repeat offenders spending time in Rahway (NJ) State prison being shouted at, intimated by and “advised” by a group of hard core offenders serving life sentences. The theory behind this exercise was to “scare” the youth into changing their lives in order to not end up behind bars. I remember watching this show and it sure scared me! The documentary won an academy award and it was repeated in jails across the country although not without controversy and serious questions about its efficacy.
The passage from Exodus made me think of this program. I can just imagine being among the multitude of slow-moving, fleeing Israelites, glancing over my shoulder to see the approaching menace of Pharaoh’s army out to kill or enslave me and my brothers and sisters. Then even as we try to hurry up we are told to set out upon the sandy or muddy trail of what was sea, with water surrounding us. I can imagine being terrified to consider my own and my family’s imminent deaths. And I can visualize the elation, the lifting of terror, the hope returned as I watch the waters swallow and destroy Pharaoh’s warriors. I can imagine dancing with Miriam, singing the lesson learned that God always saves his people. And I can imagine saying with heartfelt commitment, I will serve my God.
Well, there is argument over the recidivism rates of programs like “Scared Straight.” And we know the recidivism rate of the Israelites who shortly down the desert road were whining to Moses and proclaiming that they would be better off back in Egypt. And I know my own recidivism as I make choices out of misplaced priorities or because things are not going my way or even worse, because I am so complacent that God has been left behind somewhere out of my sight.
I must make the choice for God again and again as my very human nature and desires take over. The choice must be renewed each and every day. As a younger person I often thought that were I to meet Jesus face to face as his disciples did, or if I saw a miracle such as the crossing of the red sea then I would be much more faithful than those misunderstanding followers or unreliable Israelites. Now in all honesty I must say that I would not. In Baptism I was welcomed into Jesus’ family. But it is in doing God’s will that I remain Jesus’ sister. The miracle is that each and every day we have the possibility of seeing and saying “yes” to God again.
Action
There is distraction everywhere around us with our electronic gadgets, zooming traffic, global careers. Sometimes making the right choices can feel obscured. We can take the opportunity to see how, in this human-created cacophony, to peek through to God’s presence even using technologies. I was amazed and dumbfounded to see that Catholics (particularly young people who might understand better such tools) are invited to “attend” World Youth Day in Spain right from their own computers using a virtual link. See the explanation and check it out at http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2011/11-139.shtml
Ain’t God wonderful?
