Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot

Lectionary: 385

The king of Samaria shall disappear,

like foam upon the waters.

The high places of Aven shall be destroyed,

the sin of Israel;

thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars.

Then they shall cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall upon us!”

Apocalyptic expectations of doom and destruction begin with the uneasy feeling that our Just and Merciful God cannot forever ignore the cry of the poor. Surely, retribution must come. He will not long withhold his punishing hand.

The Prophet Hosea entertained that thought as he saw the Kingdom of Israel, separated by politics, claiming to worship the same God, and yet drifting further from reunion with the Kingdom of Judah. He devoutly wished that Israel's sacred sites, only recently established by a usurper's decree, would fall into disuse and disrepair and finally disappear. He hoped the illegitimate king and his attendants would plead for death on the Day of the Lord and it would not come.

Many Americans feel the same unease when we hear of migrants being punished although their "crime" is a only misdemeanor. We wonder how a nation that aborts the unborn can expect to flourish. We shudder when we hear of phony schools that promise training for better jobs and deliver only insurmountable tuition debt. It's not hard to imagine those who perpetrate such injustice begging for mercy on Judgement Day. They will "cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall upon us!” but their suffering will be far worse than that.

But this expectation of retribution is older and perhaps deeper than our religious expectations. "What goes around comes around." people say when they hear that a wicked person has suffered some humiliation. The wheel of fortune has finally righted itself.

In the VA hospital, some patients give evidence of "moral injury." Where they expected basic human decency of their friends and their enemies they met indifference and cruelty. "Where is God?" they ask.

I think our answer must be, "Here I am!"

The question, more accurately expressed, is "Where is the Church that is supposed to represent God in our world?"

"Here I am!" we reply; and, "Tell me what's going on."

I cannot speak for God, but I can listen. I certainly cannot explain the ways of God to men, but -- Christlike -- I can plead for men before God.

The imitation of Christ does not explain why the innocent suffer or why the wicked go unpunished. Rather, it takes up the cross of mute, bewildered astonishment and follows in his path. It does not hesitate to bless, heal and condole along the way, as Jesus did on the road to Jerusalem. It wonders as Jesus wondered, when will That Day come:

Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” Luke 23:28

God's first and most reassuring word is not, "I am all-powerful; I am in control; I will resolve everything to your satisfaction!"

God's first word to us is, "I am with you."