The latest cabinet level department to be formed in our government is the Department of Homeland Security, formed immediately after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. The United States Department of Homeland Security is charged with responsibility for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management. Despite its formation, the last sixteen years have seen multiple terrorist attacks on our home soil.
The image that Isaiah and the Gospel use today is that of God as a Rock, a fortress, a rampart or wall that protects God’s people. I am sure that we are all familiar with Psalm 18 which sings of God in these terms: “LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!” Yet we must also admit that complete security and defense against crime or disaster is far from our reality.
On a personal level, illness or disability is also a threat against our sense of security. I am sure that many of us have had the experience of being helpless in the face of medical procedures, surgeries, and interventions.
So the image of God as Savior and Defender is very much a Messianic image, a hope for which we yearn. The prophet tells us that God protects the just and those who place their trust in God. As we continue our preparations for the Feast of the Nativity, we find ourselves praying for peace to accompany our sense of joy. Once again we are urged to place our hope in God and not in the strength of walls that separate or attempts to exclude those who are different. This is false security. The only sure defense is God. As we listen to the words of Jesus today, we urge to build on the sure foundation we find in the Gospels.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M.