America has certainly been in the desert. Others have recognized the significance of the forty-year anniversary of Roe occurring in 2013, as it harkens back to Exodus 20:13‘s commandment to not kill. Yesterday’s first reading in the Office of Readings was from Deuteronomy 9, where Moses recounts how Israel fell at the Golden Calf, yet he prays that God spare them. Even though they knew God’s will and had His law, they still reject both and are thereby consigned to forty years of wandering. There are too many contemporary golden calves to mention, but two prominent ones would have to be Christian denominations rejecting the Church’s consistent teaching on contraception, and the sexual revolution which that rejection made possible.
We also celebrate today the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. There are lots of pre-conversion Pauls around today: people who zealously follow and promote the prevailing cultural dogmas. Instead of Pharisiasm, our culture promotes secularism and sexual license, and its proponents love seats of honor, be they at the Oscars or in the White House. When Jesus confronts Paul that he is persecuting Him through persecuting his followers in the Church, Paul’s conversion is effected. Though no blood has been shed yet, it is clear that the Church is being persecuted today. If Christ could reach the zealous Paul, he can certainly convert our culture. As St. Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, may our country meet Jesus as his followers are on the road to the Supreme Court.