Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Chapel at Mount Saint Francis

I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.


The Jewish religion, perhaps more than any other, is ready to challenge God face to face. Although the devout Jew worships God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, there are moments in human life when he “just can’t take it anymore.” The prophet Habakkuk, especially, dares to make his stand in the face of God’s silence and demand an explanation. He can even use sarcasm as he challenges God:
     Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
     and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
     Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence?
Habakkuk discovered the freedom to challenge God in this way during a time of political catastrophe, after the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and before the second final destruction. Political authority in the city had been given to a Jew; but he was a “puppet,” appointed by the Babylonian emperor. He lacked credibility. I’m sure it took courage to challenge this foreign authority but the challenge found ready sympathy in the populace. So if Habakkuk challenges God, he has probably learned his audacity in a time of popular contempt for the “Powers that Be.”
In the meanwhile he accurately describes the human oppressor, the warrior who idolizes his weapon.
    He brings them all up with his hook,
    he hauls them away with his net,
    He gathers them in his seine;
    and so he rejoices and exults.
    Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
    and burns incense to his seine;
    for thanks to them his portion is generous,
    and his repast sumptuous.
    Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
    to slay peoples without mercy?
Americans are certainly familiar with the idolatry of weapons. Only recently, the Supreme Court reversed its traditional interpretation of the second amendment in support of private ownership of guns. It seems our personal security is founded no longer on the rule of law but on the ability to retaliate with firepower.
Television and movies also adore firearms. No matter how implausible the situation, the handgun resolves conflicts. Even in science fiction movies the hero and his (or her) foes are firing at one another with handguns. They just cannot imagine a future without them. 
The Christian in such an environment might well ask God, “Will you protect me and my loved ones in the face of such violence?” We want to hear a word spoken with authority and conviction. 
The first response the prophet hears, a proverb, seems lacking: 
   The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live. 
The prophet says this word came to him after much waiting; its fulfillment will come after even more waiting. But, after the the prophet continues to list his grievances against an oppressive enemy and a silent God, he hears:
The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory as water covers the sea.andThe Lord is in his holy temple; silence before him, all the earth!

The Retreat Center, former school building

These pronouncements have authority. Especially the latter. Remembering that knee-staggering spectacle in the Temple, when Isaiah saw seraph angels shouting "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Host" as they circled round the Throne like a tornado of fire, Jerusalem found willingness to wait and watch and hope and expect the Day of Redemption. The Jews were so persuaded by its majesty, they have handed it down to us.