GREAT NATION - B: 22nd Sun in OrdTime

First Reading: Deut 4:1-2, 6-8 (29 August 2021)

“What great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?” (Deut 4:7)

Most English bibles have the word “nation” to translate the original Hebrew “goyyim” or the Greek “ethnos” (E.g., ESV, NASB, and NRSV). Very few use the translation “people” in Deut 4:7, such as the Aramaic Bible in Plain English: “For what is the great people whose god is near to it as is Lord Jehovah our God in all that we call upon him?” While the normal impression is that there is no big difference between “nation” and “people” as they refer to the same referent, we readers in contemporary times have different denotations of these two terms.

On the former, we call “nations” those political states that have an autonomous entity, separate from direct colonial control of others. The term “nation” is derived from the Latin “natus,” i.e., “born,” hinting at the birthplace/origin of an individual. Yet, over time it evolved to mean enfranchisement or citizenship as captured by the word “nationality.” If applied to Deut 4:7, we comprehend that by choosing a superior system in worship, one nation continues to be great and above the rest of the nations around the world. Consequentially, many people are attracted to migrate to First World countries on account of the stability they have in terms of economy, social system, job opportunities, and even freedom to choose religion. Because of this relative liberty, these countries offer anyone the most convenient place to practice any form of worship.

On the latter, we call “people” those loosely bound into communities—we call those in organized societies “citizens”. Not enjoying the same civic liberties as the latter, ordinary people struggle for their daily bread in their experiences of suffering and misery and even in the face of death. Some of them cannot even pray to God in a proper place of worship because of geopolitical insurgencies and religious persecutions. If Deut 4:7 is perceived as a biblical text addressed to them, it can be said that despite their deplorable condition, God continues to be with them and is listening to their cries and pleas.

In their dire situation, they can even be considered great for they have a God who sides with and understand them constantly.

Indeed, in the Exodus story, the Israelites who were liberated from their slavery in Egypt were also struggling: traveling for 40 years in an unpleasant desert while being scorched by the heat of the sun, embattled by sandstorms and the chill of the night, discomforted by sleeping in portable feeble tents, fazed by the uncertainty of their daily supply of provisions, and troubled by the hopelessness of living in an empty horizon. Yet, even if they are not a great nation like their neighboring Egyptians or Assyrians, they remained great in the eyes of God. It is because God is with them, traveling with them in their quotidian hurdles.

In light of the recent problems in Afghanistan and in other communities that are marginalized and baffled in various ways, let us support and pray with them. They may not be a great nation for having lost their affiliation to stable governments, but surely God’s presence abides in them.

Let us make them great in our eyes, too, by standing for their rights and for their needs.

- Rex Fortes, CM