Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 417

"I gave you a land that you had not tilled
and cities that you had not built, to dwell in;
you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves
which you did not plant." Joshua 24:13

President Obama's remark -- "You didn't build that!" -- might have been better received if he had cited Joshua 24:13 when he said it. Perhaps -- but probably not. 

The Bible says that the Hebrews nearing the Promised Land -- second-generation emigres from Egypt -- welcomed Joshua's original remarks, as we'll hear on Saturday. After a long and detailed conversation, 

"...the people promised Joshua, “We will serve the LORD, our God, and will listen to his voice.”

Obama's remark was meant to remind his fellow Americans, allies and opponents, that our ancestors had the foresight to build solid, dependable infrastructures; and we should reinvest in maintenance of old structures as we build new ones. He said it well enough but political discourse had already deteriorated from reasonable discussion into useless, polarized partisanship. Had the nation heard the Word of God in Obama's remarks we might not be prosecuting an ex-president for racketeering and conspiracy. 

Joshua and the Hebrews were building an infrastructure for a nation that would not appear for several more centuries. That was the shrine at Shechem where the Ark of the Covenant remained after the desert sojourn. Before a capital city, a wall around the city, or a highway to the city, there had to be a shrine for the worship of God. There the people would keep the memory of God's providential, protecting covenant and teach it to their children. And they must return generation after generation to maintain the covenant which promised, peace, security, prosperity, and abundance so long as they remembered. 

The Book of Judges, however, records the infidelity of the third generation: 

When the rest of that generation were also gathered to their ancestors, and a later generation arose that did not know the LORD or the work he had done for Israel, the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, and abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the one who had brought them out of the land of Egypt....

Despite Moses' warnings and Joshua's sacrifices, the Jews were mingling with the native Canaanites, adopting their ways, and losing their faith, their religious heritage,and the security of God's promise. 

The good news is that God remained faithful to his chosen people, the descendants of Abraham. The bad news: they had to suffer the fate of every nation and people on earth -- which is annihilation -- until they turned back to the Lord. No nation, people, tribe, language, or culture survives forever. This dynamic planet which is changing continually finally shatters every human institution. 

Although we evolved because of its dynamism, Earth owes us nothing and cares not a whit for us. Our flourishing is solely God's Mighty Work as he works within those arbitrary forces. As human beings, we contribute only when we catch the Spirit of God and work within his plan. 

As Catholics we're especially charged with the mission of building, maintaining, and passing along the spiritual infrastructures of our faith to another generation. Protestantism relies on the spiritual foundation of Catholicism even as Christianity relies on the covenant with Abraham. Should we fail, human life fails, the crucifixion means nothing, and the Earth becomes an exercise in divine futility. 

But that will not happen for the same reason we remember the fidelity of Joshua: God is faithful to his word. If necessary, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. He remembers the sacrifice of Isaac and the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.