God Is on Our Side

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 9, we "give thanks" to the Lord for all of His "wondrous deeds".  We tell God that we "will be glad and exult" in the Lord, sing God's praises "because [our] enemies are turned back, overthrown and destroyed before [God]." We acknowledge that it is the Lord who "rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name, you blotted out forever and ever.  [We have realized, we tell God,  that the] nations are sunk in the pit they have made; in the snare they set, their foot is caught. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish." 

What a prayer, as true today as in the times of the Israelite's battles with their enemies, as reported in today's first reading, 1Maccabees 6: 1-13, in which we hear of King Antiochus' attempt to "capture and pillage the city"  of Elymais, "famous for its wealth in silver and gold, and that its temple was very rich, containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander, son of Philip, king of Macedon, the first king of the Greeks."

The rich and famous, to this very day, are out to pillage wealth from other countries, wealth that is not theirs.  Some of the rich and powerful are also out to increase their wealth by exploiting the poor, the sick and the needy. Labor and human traffickers are bent on increasing their wealth by forcing children and young adults, women and girls and young boys into the sex trade and into forced labor with little or no pay and atrocious living situations.  In faith, we know that, eventually, those who engage in crime will sink "in the pit they have made."  Their own feet will be "caught in the snare they set" for others.  These enemies of a just society will "be turned back, overthrown," for "the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish."

The questions that each one of us faces is: Am I involved in activities that bring suffering to others? Or, what can I do to alleviate those who are victims of crime?  Am I educating myself about human trafficking, slave labor and those at risk to be exploited by criminals involved in these situations, some also victims of persons who have exploited them!  Information is available on the Internet. Your parish may have a social concerns committee, from whom educational materials could be sought, as well! And, above all, prayer for victims and perpetrators of these crimes is desperately needed. God is  
still God--the same today as in the time of the Israelites, whose enemies were destroyed!  And, yes, we all have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who destroyed death and will do so in whatever form it takes today! Prayers are needed individually and communally, in private and in public!

We "will rejoice in [God's] salvation"  (Psalm 9).