Personal Ambition Minus God

In the first reading for the feast of Pentecost, Gen. 11: 1-9, we are shown the time when "[t]he whole world spoke the same language, using the same words. While the people were migrating in the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.They said to one another, 'Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.' They used the bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth.'....The Lord came down.... [and] said: ....Let us...go down there and confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says.'"

What a familiar scene. Here we are in 2017 and the slogan being tossed around by our leaders is: Let's make America great again."  That goal is not much different from "Let's make a name for ourselves."

What a foolish people we are when our sole goal  is  to "make a name for ourselves," "to make America No. 1." Becoming #1 is not what Jesus teaches us in the Scriptures or by His life here on earth.  Are we not being tempted the same as Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan when Satan said to them: "...[Y]our eyes will be opened and you will be like gods" (Gen 3:5).  What is happening to us, I believe,  resembles what happened to the people in the land of Shinar, that is, many are becoming more and more confused. Like Adam and Eve, however, I hope that  "our eyes [will be] opened [in time] and [we will realize] that we [are] naked, (Gen 3;7),  as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us anew this Pentecost.

Your thoughts?

God, a Mighty Champion, a Warrior

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 20: 10-13, the prophet describes the situation around him:  “I hear the whisperings of many: ‘Terror on every side! Denounce! Let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. ‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.’ But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.”

I couldn’t help but think of Jesus.  The Scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and leaders  of His day were looking for ways to trap Him. They wanted evidence that would justify their intent to have put Him to death and then wash their own hands clean of any wrongdoing.  What these “bounty hunters” rejected was that Jesus was the Son of God, the Anointed One, the sinless Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, who would die and rise again as He prophesied. God the Father was on His side. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were champions of the New Covenant. God’s promise of eternal salvation, of crushing Satan’s head, the ultimate enemy of God’s Covenant, would not be thwarted by the faithlessness, the jealousy, and the pride of the Scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and leaders of Jesus’ day.

T o this very day, those who taunted Jesus on the cross  are “put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” That Good Friday scene is never forgotten! You and I, when we attempt to thwart the will of God in our lives or the lives of others, are also put to utter shame and thrown into confusion. Only when we repent of our ways, acknowledge our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness are the shame and the confusion lifted.