How is it that we are defined as a people?
We have two basic choices: Either we first gather in a sacred space on a regular basis, profess our belief in God and try to carry out His mission – and then define ourselves as Christian, or Jew or Muslim.
Or … we first define ourselves as Christian, Jew or Muslim, and therefore we gather, profess and live out our faith.
Which is it?
In my own experience, baptized and raised as a Catholic, I’d have to say that I had become used to attending Mass, taking weekly Holy Communion and doing my good works before I knew I was Catholic.
But I’ve met others whose experience is different.
That key word: experience.
How do we experience our faith in God these days? The answer will vary depending on your faith, your parents (and how serious they are about their faith) and where you live.
Over time, we become defined by the things we do, like it or not.
We fast during Lent, light purple candles during Advent, celebrate Christmas (gasp!) all the way into January, until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord … so, we must be Catholic.
We fast on Yom Kippur, wish happy new year on Rosh Hashanah, and light our menorah’s … so, we must be Jewish.
We read the Quran, pray five times a day, and fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan … so, we must be Muslim.
It is a good thing when people embrace their culture in order to draw closer to God. In this disturbed world of extremism, we should not only be tolerant of one another, we should encourage all to continue on a path toward peace with God and with our neighbors.
Imagine what it must have been like for the Jews in our first reading today.
“They covered over the mark of their circumcision and abandoned the holy covenant; they allied themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to wrongdoing. Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, each abandoning his particular customs. All the Gentiles conformed to the command of the king, and many children of Israel were in favor of his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.”
They were living in a land dominated by Gentiles under the leadership of a corrupt government that wanted to create its own “religion” by forcing others to abandon their practices. In the spirit of “going along to get along” the people of Israel (most of them, we suspect) gave into this idea and began to abandon the things they had always done – their own culture – in order to keep the peace.
But some did not go along … and eventually, they would pay the price as the government’s “suggestions and alternatives” turned to edicts, persecution and finally, downright murderous behavior, which today we would call ethnic cleansing.
The “frog in the pot of boiling water” did not take long to die.
Where are we today? Is this happening in our world?
Saint Pope John Paul the Great knew the importance of keeping culture and sacred religious practices close to the heart, especially in the face of repression from those who seek to simply wipe away your history … our history.
We see it in the tragic destruction of holy places of worship around the globe, the attempts to impose certain beliefs or undo certain practices held sacred by a people. We see it played out in the extremes whenever secular laws are written to control who we “are” rather than what we “do.”
It’s complicated.
It is not difficult to understand a nation’s desire for peace. Many truly believe that mankind does not need God or a religion in order to carry on a peaceful existence. For a while it might even work.
But eventually, because we are human and we have a natural tendency to follow, worship or praise … someone (or something), there are those quick to substitute God for someone else – or something else. And a smart leader of any nation would not miss that opportunity to step in and take God’s place.
That’s what happened in today’s first reading and it’s what has happened over and over again in our history.
So, it really all boils down to that one struggle that we all must deal with – on both a macro level in our nations; and a micro level, within our own hearts.
Is God, God? Or am I God? Do I follow my creator, or do I discard such nonsense and simply follow … me?
On our journey of life, where we struggle with that and other profound questions … it helps to be given the freedom to go “this way” or “that way” … or to turn back altogether.
The Jews in our first reading lost that freedom.
“On the fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five, the king erected the horrible abomination upon the altar of burnt offerings and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars. They also burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. Any scrolls of the law which they found they tore up and burnt. Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant, and whoever observed the law, was condemned to death by royal decree.”
For sure, these events took place a long time ago. But history repeats itself. And when I read my daily newspapers, I know there are many places today where this is a problem that often ends in tragic and senseless violence.
This week in America, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Before you gather around the big meal with family and friends, take a moment to count your blessings that you live in a land where you can still pray at the dining room table or in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
And let’s pray that our brothers and sisters of all faiths around the world can someday enjoy that same freedom to embrace their own cultures on the path toward the divine creator of us all.
