By Zoe Cannon
Gratitude for the Gift of Faith
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
We need to encourage one another. Sharing the realities of life and a reason for hope are important. I challenged myself to read more scripture from the Old Testament during Lent. The prophecies and fulfillment in scripture reveal God’s continued love for us.
In the Book of Leviticus, chapter 26, I discovered some revealing messages in the reward of obedience and the punishment of disobedience. The summarized footnotes for 26:1-46 read: “The blessings are concerned with the well-being of the nations — its national security — military success — and population growth. To encourage obedience, the list of punishments is longer than the blessings — sickness, pestilence, unleashing of illicit cults, panic, military defeat, agricultural failure, and death of people’s children.” Clearly, there are common concerns from the Old Testament times and our world today!
I read in the Books from the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel about covenants broken and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Jeremiah calls the Lord to account for allowing the wicked to flourish, while he is persecuted for his fidelity, knowing that his trials ahead are going to be even greater. Jeremiah warned the people of the temple’s destruction. He was ignored and persecuted as the Israelites continued down their disastrous path.
Ezekiel observes that Jerusalem’s depraved behavior follows the bad behavior of its non-Israelite forbearers. The ancient Israelites thought that God could use deception as a means of divine justice. There is mention of child sacrifice under Judah’s impious kings. According to Ezekiel, the people in Jerusalem deserve destruction because they are corrupt.
Have we erased the belief system of right and wrong? The decline of social responsibilities and our disobedience to God are destructive. Recognition of morality is the real substance of human dignity. Our human liberation must be based on truth because living in deception and lies is not freedom, but enslavement to sin — the ruination of humanity!
The goal in our spiritual journey on earth is to strive for the divine — a citizenship in heaven. We cannot deprive ourselves of truth and achieve this perfect salvation. Our Christian faith does not paralyze reason! In paragraph 39 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church it reads: “In defending the ability of human reason to know God, the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and with all men, and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and atheists.”
There is a strong message in Matthew 12:25-26, Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?”
These salvation history stories should concern everyone about destructive behavior. Lies and deception will destroy a nation, and the people of God will be persecuted. But there is hope — God wins! The temple — rebuilt in three days will be celebrated soon — stay tuned. Jesus is victorious! Amen!