These, therefore, are the festivals of the LORD
on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly,
and offer as an oblation to the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day."
Scholars believe that the Book of Deuteronomy as we have it today was completed after the Babylonian Exile. Although it retained many ancient, outmoded regulations it also codified the new Jewish ways of life and religion. There were especially the three festivals of Passover, Atonement, and Booths.
The feast days remembered a simpler, pre-exilic era when the entire nation made three pilgrimages to the Holy City, consumed all of their stored food, sharing it equally with everyone from the most to the least deserving; and then began to store food again for the next festival. God would provide because they were living according to his Law. They observed the proper rituals and practiced mercy and justice in the treatment of citizens and aliens alike.
That there had never been such a golden era did not matter, no more than the fact that few Americans supported the American Revolutionary War. They said to themselves, "That's the way it should have been, and that's the way it was!"
Deuteronomy with its three festivals is not idealistic. No one expects to live ideally because ideals are simply ideas with an aura; they are how people should live in the best of all perfect worlds. But Deuteronomy presents these festivals as the way we should live in the real world, with reliance on the God who provides for his faithful people. If we have not enjoyed that prosperity, security, and peace, it's because of our sins.
In my retirement here at Mount Saint Francis I volunteer some time in our Mission Advancement Office; and one of my duties is to call and thank people for their donations. Very often donors tell me they wish they could give more.
Yes, I understand, I assure them. We all wish we could give more, but we give what we can; and perhaps more than we can "afford;" and God provides for the rest. We save for tomorrow, just as we pay our taxes and pay our insurance premiums and maintain our homes. But we are not misers who feel compelled to store up a superabundance for an indefinite future. We have more important things on our minds, such as babysitting for the grandchildren, checking on our elderly parents, and the daily practice of faith.
And we let God be the judge as to how well we're living in his world, for his mercy abides forever.
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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.