Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 394

This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

Violence supposes it can demolish opponents and opposition once and for all; and inevitably, predictably fails. American politics demonstrates that as we watch our two major political parties rise and fall and rise again. Although it's impossible to say how long each cycle will last, and although one party seems to be completely demoralized, disorganized, and doomed to disfunction, its principles never disappear, its members reorganize, and the party revives when its time comes.

But the violent keep trying to destroy their opponents. Although the vast majority thought the crisis of the 1850's would pass and civil war would be avoided as it had been for over eighty years, when the Civil War, the War between the States, finally happened, it ended slavery once and for all -- not. 

I received a Virtus article recently, the first of a three part series, describing the persistence of slavery in the United States. It is no longer confined to the southeastern states, but continues in every state, regardless of national and international boundaries. Is anyone surprised? What the consumer wants, the consumer gets; whether its recreational drugs, guns, cigarettes, or vulnerable children. No amount of violence, virtuous or otherwise, legal or extra-legal, can contain evil. 

But virtue also has its day. Today's gospel describes the Lord's tactical retreat from his Pharisaic opponents. Perhaps they thought they were finally turning him back from his march toward Jerusalem. Perhaps they thought his followers would see his retreat and join them in mocking him. Perhaps they didn't appreciated how "Falsehood will fly from Maine to Georgia, while truth is pulling her boots on." They did not understand that the truth persists. 

The Pharisees did not appreciate God's determination to hear the cry of suffering humanity. The poor remained in their poverty, and the sick were still dying, but the Lord heard their cry in Judea just as clearly as he had heard the cry of the Hebrews in Egypt:

The LORD said [to Moses]: 

I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry against their taskmasters, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them up from that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.... (Exodus 3:7-8)

Today's passage from Saint Matthew's Gospel recalls the meekness of the Lord. He had no need to threaten, much less to raise an army and equip them with weapons. He knew in his flesh that "The Word of the Lord endures forever." 

So he could meekly wait for the moment to come, and appear weak to his opponents. He knew the truth of his prophecy in the Sermon on the Mount: 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Psalm 37:11)

And he could welcome everyone to 

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves."

Because the day would come when the Zechariah's prophecy-- that is, God's Word -- would be fulfilled, 

"Say to daughter Zion, 'Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"