Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

I remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I remember your wonders of old. 
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.

Christians often reflect on some of the Old Testament books – Psalms, Genesis, Exodus and perhaps Isaiah. But we should include Deuteronomy among our favorites. The introduction to the book in the New American Bible says, “At the time of our Lord's coming, it shared with the Psalms a preeminent religious influence among the Old Testament books.” And Wikipedia says of it: One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

Although Deuteronomy appears to be the very words of Moses, scholars agree it was compiled many centuries later. It was key to Josiah’s reform in the seventh century BCE, and further adapted during and after the Babylonian Exile. It helped the Jews redefine their presence and mission in the world beyond the land of Israel, as they were spread throughout northern Africa, Europe and Asia.

The faithful Jew must always remember the deeds of the Lord. The nation that forgets its past forfeits its identity. Regardless of its vitality or power, it is a rudderless ship, tossed on the storm waves of history and eventually wrecked. The nation that has been chosen by God must remember its past from the time of Abraham, through its slavery in Egypt, the Babylonian exile and the Shoah of the 20^th century.

As spiritual heirs of the Jewish people, Christians too must remember the deeds of the Lord.

In today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Moses challenges his people:

Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of? 
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?

Although the words are Moses’, they invite Christians and Catholics to remember the favor we have received. Does any other religion worship the God of the Universe who chose to live and die among the despised of the earth? Were any other believers invited to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ? Was any other congregation sent to care for the poor, the despised, the unborn, the elderly, the homeless and the helpless?

Our missionaries in India and Africa tell us that Christians are minorities in their respective countries, but they have built the hospitals and schools for the poor. Because of their charity they have made themselves welcome in predominantly Hindu, Muslim and animist cultures. Multi-cultural open-mindedness, courtesy and reverence for other religions are well and good but practice of those virtues does not exempt the Christian from remembering the blessing God has given to his chosen people, or the responsibilities that come with these blessings.

We should continually reflect on these blessings. Moses insists: All this you were allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.