27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Simham)
Listen to the words of prophet Habakkuk in the first reading, “ How long O Lord! How long. You do not listen! ……….You do not intervene! …………..And you do not judge or give retribution!”
What was his problem? What was he lamenting about? To understand this we need to understand the historical background. Habakkuk lived during the times when Babylon was becoming a strong nation exerting itself on its neighbours. And people of Israel were the target of all this violence.
And prophet Habakkuk was a man of faith living in Israel and witnessing all this evil. He, as a prophet is deeply aware that the people of Israel are subjected to all this suffering because of their sins. This is evident from other verses in his book. But what he cannot comprehend or understand is that why Babylonians who are more sinful or more evil than Israel are torturing the people of Israel who are after all the chosen people of God and more importantly they are less sinful than Babylonians.
As the prophet walked through the streets, he saw destruction, violence, strife and conflict, corruption and selfishness. It seemed the Lord was keeping his hands in his pockets and doing nothing to judge the wicked and deliver the faithful.
So he cries out to God in prayer. He had two questions for the Lord: “How long before you deliver us?” and “Why do you allow these things to happen?” Sound familiar, don’t they?
We look at the world around us and see thousands dying due to terrorism. We hear about gang violence in the city and murder in the suburbs. We see selfishness driving our materialistic society and promoting glorification of sex outside of marriage. We hear about the increase of gross and disgusting sins that publicly violate God’s holy Law. We see corruption everywhere and we also cry out “How long, O Lord, before you stop all this?”
We sit at the bedside of a loved one as their health continues to decline and life slowly slips away. “How long, O Lord, will this go on?” Death takes a loved one—a spouse, a child, a grandparent, a friend—and we’re left behind wondering, “Why did you let this happen, Lord?” We daily struggle with problems at home, problems at work, problems at school and problems at church. “Why, O Lord, aren’t you doing something?” When we’re faced with difficulty or setback or emergency, we often find ourselves asking the Lord, “Why is this happening? Why me? Why my spouse? Why my kids? Why my parents? Why my friends?” We often preface those questions with statements like, “I shouldn’t question God” or “I know I shouldn’t be asking this.” Still we stand there with Habakkuk and ask the Lord those pointed questions.
To the questions, “How long” and “Why”, the Lord had answers. He promises that the fulfillment of those threats of judgment and promises of deliverance are coming. You need to wait. For the faithful few there in Judah, who were about to be overrun by the Babylonians, there would be deliverance. Look at the concluding words. “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright, but the righteous will live by his faith.” The “he” described here is Babylon, whose strength was described as “their god”. They were so confident in their own strength they did not realize the Lord would one day sweep them away for their wickedness as he was doing with Judah. Later would follow the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. In the past century, we’ve seen it happen to Nazi Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union, and it will continue to happen to nations that make their strength their god. History proves that those who trust in themselves will perish.
But the just will live by faith. That is God’s present answer to those questions, “How long” and “Why”. When we are faced with difficulty or hardship or evil or tragedy, our faith should come to our help! It’s not some wishful hoping or trusting that good things will come. It’s not blind faith, but faith in God’s love and promises fulfilled in Christ. It means faith in our Lord, who is truly in control of all things from history to our individual daily lives, who promises to never leave or forsake us, who promises to let nothing separate us from his love, and who promises to work all things for our good.
It means faith in what we can taste and touch and see—the waters of Baptism connected with the Word cleansing the soul of a child or adult, the bread and wine where Christ gives us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Above all, living this life by this faith means going back to all God’s promises of love and forgiveness and deliverance fulfilled at the Cross and tomb of Christ, where we see God and his love in the flesh crucified and risen for us.
Fr. Showreelu Simham