Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time_Year A_ Our Help Is In the Name of the Lord_102223

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Our Help Is In The Name of the LORD” PS 124:8

 

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 

Have you ever had this experience: you are in a difficult situation and you are desperately in need of help but you have no idea where to turn. Then, someone, a complete stranger, comes to your aid, and you are left with this overwhelming sense of amazement. You just know that God somehow had His hands in these events that touched your life.

The story of the Jews liberation from captivity in Babylon at the hands of the Persian King Cyrus is just such an experience. It is a genuine sign of God calling upon a “stranger” to accomplish His plan in an amazing and awesome way. About King Cyrus Isaiah wrote, “I have call you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not”. The Jews were in a hopeless situation; they were being held captive away from their home; their temple lay in ruin; their way of life altered forever. So, they thought! Then Cyrus, the King of the Persians, one not numbered among the tribes of Israel, rises up and defeats the Babylonians and comes to their aid. In 538 B.C. Cyrus issued an edict allowing the return of all the Hebrews to Jerusalem. Better yet, he ordered the rebuilding of the Temple and provided that the Israelites be given a royal subsidy from his treasury. He directed that the sacred vessels seized by the Babylonians when they destroyed the Temple should be sent back with the released captives. Finally, he urged all Israelites to contribute to the restoration of public worship. Isaiah tells how God took Cyrus’ right hand and led him, “subduing nations before him…. opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred”. Isaiah wrote that the Lord summoned Cyrus. The events that followed tell us that responding to the Lord’s call produces amazing results.

Today we face an unimaginable, life threatening and life changing situations from the ravages caused by natural disasters, tortuous mass shootings in schools, shopping malls, grocery stores. Evidence of the devastation the recent and seemingly ongoing pandemic has caused is all around us... in the loss of lives, in the physical, emotional and financial suffering we or our family or friends and neighbors have or are suffering. This tragedy only exacerbates the everyday problems and difficulties we face in our lives, problems with our relationships, with our kids, our boss, fears of losing our jobs or our health and the political and ecclesiastical discord that threatens the very fabric of our society. We struggle with forgiving those who have hurt us; we struggle with addictions and all sorts of impossible situations. We even struggle with the teachings of our church. We ask ourselves, “How am I going to get through this?” or, “Where can I turn for help?”

It’s always darkest before the dawn, they say. I am sure the Jews held captive in Babylon felt that way. But, then God, who is the master of doing the impossible, comes to their rescue and turns their tears into laughter. Isaiah tells us today to keep the faith. There is no struggle or difficulty God cannot overcome!! There is no struggle or difficulty of ours that God does not want to overcome. But, the lesson from Isaiah’s text is clear…. the Lord called Cyrus by name to do His work, to liberate His Chosen People, to rebuild the Temple and restore Israel to its former glory. The thing is, God has call us by name, today… and he asks us to do the same. He calls us to respond to the needs of those around us… who have suffered tragic loss, who are in desperate need, who have given up hope. How will we decide to be instruments in the hands of our Lord in helping accomplish His plan?

Enjoy the Day!
Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacs engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those thinking of coming into or leaving it.

 

OTHER RESOURCE

 

Recommended Reading: Poverty, By America by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Matthew Desmond. The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

 

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

 

Recommended YouTube Video:  Commonweal Podcast - How to Abolish Poverty. The fact that nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty is a national embarrassment. But it’s also a choice. If poverty exists, it’s because we “wish and will it to.”