exile

It is thought that author of the book of Deuteronomy was a person writing towards the end of the Babylonian exile. He took the writings we know as the 5 Books of Moses and put them together so that a generation who have never been to Israel, saw the Temple of Jerusalem, and had grown up in a Babylonian culture would know the Sacred Story of how God chose their nation and how vital following the covenant made on Sinai was to the life of the people.

My own thought is that it is very reflective of our own time. My generation was the immediate Post Vatican II generation. My foundation in the faith came from my parents and family. It does not come from CCD. I went to public school. We went from learning from a nun in full habit to felt banners and God loves everyone. This is a sign of the times in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Yes the opening window of Vatican II blew new life into the Church, but I wonder if it was gale force. My generation passed on what they learned (or lack of what they learned) and now about 4 generations from the Council, we are in a crisis of the younger generation not being rooted in the Spirit of Vatican II and rooted in no faith, rooted in the security of the Pre-Vatican II church, or in the relativism of our society.

Just like the people of Babylon, our youth do not know the person of Jesus Christ because we adults may not have experienced it also in the beauty of our Church, in our Sacramental encounters, or in our mission to further the Kingdom of God. It is entirely possible that we have returned to the apostolic church and telling the story is our reason to exist. Like the young people of Israel in the Babylonian did not hear the story and the author told it, we may need to hear the story ourselves to tell our younger generations.