Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 503

The king told... his chief chamberlain, to bring in some of the children of Israel of royal blood and of the nobility, young men without any defect, handsome, intelligent and wise, quick to learn, and prudent in judgment, such as could take their place in the king's palace; they were to be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans; after three years' training they were to enter the king's service.

By the standards of European imperialism, Nebuchadnezzar's policy of integrating some second-generation Jewish captives into his court sounds enlightened, if not revolutionary. Apparently the Chaldeans (in this fictional account found in the Book of Daniel) did not assume their subjects were inferior to them. They knew nothing of race; and had never heard of Darwin's survival of the fittest. Their social sciences were not as primitive as those of later, Christian nations. Enlightened empires, unlike Enlightened Europe and North America, supposed the best way to govern a nation is to listen to, and accept advice from, subject people. 

However, like some Christian nations, the Chaldeans did expect the conquered to accept the religious and cultural traditions of their conquerors. Why would the Jews not welcome the rule and worship of the god who was clearly stronger than their defeated god? It only made sense that the more powerful gods must be honored, flattered, and placated if they would protect their devotees from their enemies. Any deities who could not protect their own walled cities from invading armies should not be honored; they were laughably weak and should be dismissed and forgotten. 

But the Jews didn't see it that way. If they had been conquered, it was because they had failed to honor the covenant with the LORD who had created the universe and everything within it. He had turned them over to their enemies -- as he had said he would. Their hope lay not in forgetting the LORD and their past with its traditions, culture, and religion, but in repentance. 

American Catholics face this dilemma today. Especially since divorce became a routine way of dealing with unsatisfying marriages, and abortion became birth control, Catholics have had to come apart from the society around them and worship the Lord who has revealed the truth to us. 

The Letter to the Hebrews reminds of our call to be unlike our neighbors,  

...Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood. 

And then urges us,  

Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come

American culture despises our practices of penance. A consumer economy cannot afford self-sacrificing shoppers. Consumers must be driven by the fear of their clothes being outdated, and their cars out-modeled. They should be fascinated by the latest electronic wizardly; they must never notice that new is rarely improved. 

American consumers hope that God is so Good that he'll dismiss almost any sin. If it feels good, it's probably okay. There are certain exceptions, of course. They hate the abuse of children, whether physical, emotional, or sexual; and suspect any discipline that limits a child's free choice.  

What matters is career, not parents, spouses, or children. Upward mobility works only for the individual. Moving into a higher economic or social sphere requires a new partner. 

Fidelity is not sleeping with more than one partner at a time. Sincerity covers a multitude of sins. If you really love someone, it's okay to sleep with them regardless of your vows or those of your lover. But love is only a feeling; it will pass. Love is certainly not a covenant. 

Like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, Catholics must go outside the camp to be with the Lord. We learn to be in the world but not of the world. We support one another in our practices of fidelity and penance. Unlike ideologues who demand agreement and conformity of one another even as they proselytize the rest of us, we can practice our faith quietly, and share it with those who ask in a civil and pleasant manner. Nor do we look for conspiracies whenever we meet disagreement or opposition. 

By the time Daniel the book appeared, Nebuchadnezzar's empire had collapsed and was supplanted by first the Greek, and then the Seleucid empire. The Jewish faith in God survives to this day. The gods who had apparently conquered Jerusalem are remembered no more; the LORD of Jerusalem is worshiped all over the world. 

The Catholic Church will survive the United States and, we can hope, will have fond memories of its experiment in two-party democracy and representative government. In the meanwhile we remember the Covenant God has given us in Jesus Christ; and we celebrate it as we baptize our young, celebrate our Eucharist, confess our sins, and honor our dead.