Realize that it is those who have faith
who are children of Abraham. Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham, saying,
Through you shall all the nations be blessed.
Consequently, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham who had faith.
The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary and today's readings from Galatians and Saint Luke invite us to consider the gift of faith, especially as we have received the gift from Abraham, Mary, and Jesus.
Saint Paul insists upon Jesus's teaching, "Salvation is from the Jews." when he invokes the call of Abraham in Genesis, "Through you shall all the nations be blessed."
We have seen again in our time and in our own nation the rise of antisemitism. We had hoped that was crushed once and for all by the defeat of Nazi Germany. But if wars resolve some military, political, and economic issues they have no effect on spiritual issues like racism and antisemitism.
In today's gospel Jesus warns us about a divided kingdom, it "will be laid waste." And that is precisely what we see in American Christianity today. It is wasted by the hostility against Jews which it promotes in some churches and tolerates in most churches.
For antisemitism is a division within the very heart of Christianity; it is disciples of Jewish Messiah who hate Jews. Claiming loyalty to Jesus they despise his Mother of Jesus, his apostles and the apostolic church, and his Jewish ancestry. Without these foundational allegiances it must concoct a "spiritual" religion, a soul with no body. But a soul without a body cannot rise from the dead. In fact, there is no such thing. Antisemitism among Christians is a divided kingdom, and doomed.
Its roots are deep within the history of the Church, and its adherents often point to intentional misreadings of the New Testament.
Fortunately, healing from antisemitism is not difficult. One must simply accept the Jews' gift of penance which is found in King David's 51st psalm and echoed throughout the Old and New Testaments. There is ample evidence of our sins against God, our neighbor, our earth, and ourselves in the Bible and anywhere you look. A simple prayer like that of Saint Peter, ("I am a sinful man!") and the centurion, ("Lord, I am not worthy...") turns our hearts back to Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Mary, and the Church.
We may suffer shame and remorse for our sins but these passing feelings should not distract our turn to the Lord. He calls each of us by name, and enters through the door that is not locked against him.
In prayer we learn to recognize and rejoice in the voice of the shepherd with his strong Jewish Galilean accent.
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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.