Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 501

On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it,
on that very day it was reconsecrated
with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals.
All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven,
who had given them success.

Today's first reading recalls the joyful reconsecration of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and the pious zeal of God's warriors, priests, and faithful. Paramount in their mind was the restoration of their religion. If its rituals and prayers had changed as the people and their circumstances changed, they still had to recover the essential tradition of worship. 

Josef Pieper, a German Catholic philosopher, writing amid the ruins of post-war Germany, urged his fellow Europeans to remember the cult that must be the foundation of culture. The world has never seen a successful civilization which does not honor the spiritual dimension of life. Nor can any nation survive which does not enjoy the non-productive leisure like religion, art, literature, sculpture, music, and philosophy. 

When the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt he commanded them to keep holy the Sabbath. Failing that, they would be slaves wherever they were, and to whichever nation would rule them. God would have nothing to do with them if they failed to observe the Sabbath. They had been forced to work seven days a week in Egypt; even under the desperate conditions of the desert they should do no work on the seventh day. The Lord would provide for them! 

So here we are in the United States trying to maintain a "way of life" that refuses to honor God. We hear continually about preserving our culture but nothing of the cult that honors the presence, guidance, and authority of God. 

Germany recovered from World War II with American help, and the labor force routinely takes thirty days of vacation each year. Americans take ten, provided they've worked for this company long enough to earn a vacation. Our vacations are given to help workers work more efficiently. It's in the employers' best interest that employees take their vacation; and get their rest after their forty-hour weeks. But many Americans  cannot afford to work only forty hours; they must take second and third part-time jobs to make ends meet. 

Catholic immigrants are denied their legal status ostensibly because they speak different languages with different accents. But everyone knows they work harder than Americans. Their real crimes are large families and Catholic faith. 

At least as fatal to any civilization, Americans do not support the education of our youth. They must pay for the education which enables them to work like slaves. Many young people, especially men, choose not to bother. They find part-time low wage jobs and let the women go to school. Many prefer to live at home with their parents, with no plans for the future. 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem he found only one poor woman offering her last two pence to the temple. And then, upon entering the temple, he was outraged to find workers -- merchants and dealers -- occupying the sacred space. Fomenting a one-man riot, he drove them out. Jesus commandeered the sanctuary for his sacred work, and the people were delighted until the leaders formed a successful conspiracy against him. 

Watching the annual compromise of Christmas, should we expect the same kind of disruption? It might be very unpleasant for those who ignore the cult in culture.