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| Thursday of 1st Week of Advent |
Readings: |
| Today’s readings tell a tale of two cities — Isaiah first describes a strong city, faithful and secure, and then the lofty city that God brings low and is trampled under the feet of the poor. It’s a kind of Augustinian theme — the city of God versus the City of Man. Jesus’ take is slightly different, as he shifts the image to the more domestic world of high cost housing. The message remains the same. What has this to do with us? We have seen examples of both, great cities humbled — if not by God, nonetheless immense and once-powerful cities like Baghdad brought low by war and sanctions, or New York and Madrid, and now Mumbai, more than humbled by terrorism. Other cities, like Mexico City, are being brought low by political corruption and drug wars. And we have seen houses built on sandy hillsides slide into the sea or get blown away by hurricane winds. Too often, these have been the homes of the rich and famous as well as the shabby homes of the poor, not only in places like Bangladesh, but in Louisiana and California. For Jesus, as Matthew portrays him, such disasters are metaphors for human even personal achievement, what we might today even call “spirituality.” What foundation are we building on? As a nation and as individuals? Last night, I saw a late night news report on the suffering of the displaced poor in Afghanistan, a country rent by war for more than 20 years. The suffering of the poor is almost unimaginable to those of us in the secure and lofty north latitudes. And yet the UN High Commissioner for Refugees raised a question that haunts me still — if we can afford to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into shaky banks and badly-run industries, why can’t we spare some of our wealth to feed, clothe, and heal the poor of the world? Are we only building a lofty city, a house situated on sand? It’s worth thinking about as we ponder the lessons of scripture in our expectation of the coming of Our Lord as judge of the nations. |
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