Thus says Wisdom
-- and the Church,
by placing this
reading in the
lectionary for today's
masses.
The stern judgment of God upon politicians and corporations.
Wisdom 6, 1 - 11 + Luke 17, 11-19, St. Leo the Great
Pilgrimage 2000 ... Front Page ... HOME ... A Millennial Prayer
Thus says Wisdom
-- and the Church,
by placing this
reading in the
lectionary for today's
masses.
Those who have
power must
understand that it is
not theirs to do with
as they please, power
is a responsibility,
and those who use
their power
irresponsibly will
eventually pay the
price of their sin.
These are not words
heard very loud in
Washington, D.C., or
in the other world
capitals of governance, finance, business, and culture. We live in an era of radical selfish
autonomy, where even the president fancies himself above law and morality.`
Even so, the judgment of God will come upon those who do wickedness "in high places" --
terribly and swiftly, and it will be stern. "Mene, mene, tekel, upharison" wrote the finger of God
upon the banquet hall wall of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon -- "you have been weighed in
the balances and found wanting." What do the balance scales of justice say about America the
Merciless -- that great Democratic Republic whose people willingly choose leaders to
implement policies that murder poor children in foreign lands? We cheerfully and
enthusiastically do business with bankers who steal interest payments from the rice bowls of the
poorest of the poor. Do Wisdom and Justice approve of our devotion to political corruption and
the exploitation of the poor for financial and political gain? If the United States is indeed the land
of We the People, who then are the rulers of this land that this condemnation comes upon? Is not
one of the risks of democracy that We the People themselves will be held morally responsible for
the crimes of their freely elected governing authorities?
I am reminded that the Catechism teaches us that we can gain responsibility for the sins of others
by approving of those sins, praising them, not opposing them when it is within our power to do
so, ordering them, covering up for them, or facilitating them. So when we willingly vote for a
man or woman who commits oppression -- even though we know they are oppressors and
exploiters and murderers of the poor -- where will we stand in that great accounting of those
who hold and wield power?
Luke today tells us of ten lepers healed by Jesus. One of them turns back from the rush to be
certified as "clean' to thank Jesus for this great miracle. Jesus notices that only one returned to
give thanks, and as it so happens, the man was a Samaritan. So here we have two groups that
were hated, feared, and marginalized in Jesus' culture: lepers and Samaritans (foreigners and
heretics), and they are held up to the people of the era as good examples. Today we would
probably tell a parable of 10 crack addicts and the one who turns back would be a prostitute. This
parable is found only in Luke.
Today is the feast of Leo the Great, who died on November 10, 461. During his papacy, the
Council of Chalcedon issued a primary theological definition on the human and divine natures of
Christ. He persuaded Attila the Hun to not attack Rome in 452, but in 455 AD, he saw the
conquest and sack of Rome by Genseric the Vandal. In religious art, he is often depicted with
saints confronting Attila. Perhaps he would be a good saint to invoke during the crash of empires
and the destruction of cities.
Pilgrimage 2000 ... Front Page ... HOME ... A Millennial Prayer