Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Leviticus
23:1.4-11.15-16.27.34b-37; Matthew 13:54-58)
Establishing shared traditions and a fundamental law turns an
assembly of people into a nation. For this
purpose, Americans celebrate the Pilgrims’ thanksgiving feast and toast the
Constitution as basic to their nationhood.
Something similar is presented in today’s first reading.
God tells Moses to initiate the celebration of Passover. This feast memorializes the Lord’s deliverance
of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Before
this event and the subsequent covenant, the children of Israel were disparate
groups without even a common understanding of God. After fifty days of journeying in the desert,
God presented Israel with His law. This
momentous event is celebrated with the harvest Feast of Weeks also described in
the reading.
Whether for civic or religious purposes, we must remember
that we are not just a composite of individuals. As a church or a nation, our common
traditions mold us together to form a people with a specific mission. As Christians, our mission is to tell others
about the saving grace of God. This gift
is bestowed on all humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
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