Lectionary: 327The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.”
Herod's boast to the dancing girl sounds so outrageous one might doubt the Evangelist who told the story. But then we scan the news of Wall Street traders, movie producers, and Washington insiders and realize some people act that way. Having stripped their lives of ethical and moral considerations, and assured of certain certainties by a history of recklessness, some people habitually tempt Divine Justice.
Nor is it only the wealthy. Ian Urbina, in his book The Outlaw Ocean, describes the barbaric treatment of fishers in the South Pacific. Driven to collect the last fish in the ocean sea bosses occasionally torture and murder the young men and boys who tried to escape starvation in their impoverished villages. Mr Urbina's book documents life beyond the legal limits of land-based nations. It's not pretty. There are law but no enforcement.
Saint Matthew's first two chapters remind us that, into such a world, the Baby Jesus is born.
Most of us live within the safe parameters of a law-abiding community. Most of us are shocked by stories of what might be happening beyond our safe zones. Our entertainment media sometimes suggests the existence of that other. I think of the popular CSI series that begins each episode with a ghastly image of human remains. (I once sat through an entire show.)
But as many or more people don't find that kind of thing entertaining. We prefer to recite our rosaries and go to bed. The cognoscenti can blame us for our naivete, but we prefer to be sheep under the guidance of the Good Shepherd. We graze in the green pastures of the psalms and the Gospels. We donate time to the life of our churches: teaching the young, visiting the sick and elderly; preparing the liturgies, maintaining the plant. Rather than practicing alarm about the "Isn't-It-Awful-World?" we do what we can to build the Kingdom of God within our narrow horizons.
We hope and expect the day when the Lord will save us and salvage what can be saved from our beautiful planet.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.