The prophecy we heard
in the First Reading refers to King Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire,
who was perhaps the greatest and most influential emperor in the history of the
Middle East. After conquering Babylon, the western end of his empire, he restored
Jerusalem and Judea to the Jews who had been exiled 70 years earlier. He even
financed the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, though he
himself was not Jewish. Cyrus was truly one of the great, influential figures
in the history of the world.But all of that happened after the prophecy. And
that is the point.
God is the Lord of
history; nothing is outside of his
plans; he is present in and through all historical happenings, great
or small. This doesn't mean that Cyrus was just a robot programmed by God.
Cyrus, like all of us, was a free human being with life and a unique blend of
talents given by God. God respected that.
Every one of us
chooses, every single day, whether we are going to use our freedom and talents
in a way that is in harmony with God's plan for the human family or not. But
even when we make the wrong decision, abusing our freedom and rebelling against
the moral law and the teaching of Christ, God is wise and powerful enough to
make that rebellion help his overall plan. He truly is the Lord of history,
using all things, even pagan emperors like Cyrus, to build up the Kingdom of
Christ.
The history of
salvation is full of cases where God's powerful but gentle Providence changes
the course of nations and empires. In the Old Testament, King David is a prime
example. He was the youngest and least favored of Jesse's eight sons. Since no
one in the family thought much of David, who was good looking but small, he
spent most of his time in the hills around his hometown of Bethlehem, watching
over the family flocks of sheep. His lonely days and nights taught him to pray,
and to fend for himself. That meant taking on wild animals, like lions and
bears, when they tried to steal a sheep from the flock. While he was still just
a teenager, David learned to take on those beasts with his homemade slingshot.
Of course, God in his
Providence knew that there would be a higher purpose for that slingshot later
on. That higher purpose became evident when the small, poor nation of Israel
was being oppressed by the much more powerful Philistines. At one point, the
Philistine soldier Goliath defied King Saul and the entire Israelite army. He
offered to settle the war by one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat with their best
warrior. Goliath was a giant, and no one had the courage to face him, not even
King Saul himself. When young David heard about it, he stepped forward,
confident that God would give him victory over Goliath, just as he had given
him victory over wolves, lions, and bears. And so it happened: the boy David
defeated the giant Goliath, and the line of kings that would give the world its
Messiah was founded.
With this in mind
then, what are some specific ways that we cooperate with God’s providence? How
can we do our part to participate in the Lord’s plan for our world? Two
particular ideas come to mind.
Today the Church
celebrates World Mission Sunday. This Sunday we commemorate all of those men
and women who have given their lives to the spread of the Gospel, especially in
far-away lands. But we also use this World Mission Sunday as a time to recommit
ourselves to the spread of the gospel. Most of us here will never go overseas
as a missionary; rather, we will help spread the faith in our daily lives. If
we are sensitive to the workings of God’s providence, we will discover that he
uses little moments in our lives to show others the peace and joy that comes
from being a friend of God. In this way, we contribute to the spread of the
gospel and further the mission of the Church.
Yet another concrete
way to cooperate with God’s providence is through voting. Voting is not only a
nice idea, it’s a duty we have as citizens. We are encouraged as Catholics to
vote intelligently and responsibly in our country’s elections. This is not
necessarily an easy task; there are many issues at stake in every election. And
there are many difficulties at this time in our nation’s history: the constant
worry of a recession, rising costs of living, healthcare, taxes, and the list
goes on and on. But these issues, important as they are, are secondary to
issues of life, which are foundational. When we vote for political candidates
and issues, we cannot pretend that the foundational issues of abortion,
euthanasia, and the destruction of human embryos are on the same level as other
important but secondary issues like taxes, diplomacy, and alternative energy
sources.
If foundational issues
are at stake in an election, we must
give them first priority. Foundational issues are things that belong to God,
not to Caesar, to use the image from today's Gospel, and when Caesar tries to
take them over in the name of choice, research, freedom, or mercy, we who are
God's children must defend those who
cannot defend themselves. I can’t think of a more important way of doing this
than by helping choose the leaders of our country.
The point is this: we
are God's partners in Providence and we have an opportunity to help history
follow his plan of salvation. The Lord can,
and will use our lives, our actions
to make a difference in our world. Let us do our part to help spread the
gospel, a gospel of life and peace, to those we encounter, each and every day.
And may we always cooperate with God, working in our lives so that all might know Him as King of heaven
and earth.
