Flea Bitten

Thus says the LORD: Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath. Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him to seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets. 

But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind. Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few. For he says: “By my own power I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned. My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations. As one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth. No one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!” 

Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wood! Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send among his fat one’s leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire. (Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16)

Isaiah’s meaning is unclear to Catholics in the 21st century.  After all, he wrote in the second half of the 8th century BC covering the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah during which time there was a moral breakdown of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.  In fact, Ahaz enlisted the help of the Assyrians to battle a threatening Syro-Ephramite coalition.  The result was unexpected.  Assyria acted quickly to ravage Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem.  

Message: “Choose our friends wisely; lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas.”  How many of us have fleas because we chose unwisely?  We allied ourselves with those seeking influence and power, and we were used as their pawns in their pursuit of fame and fortune.  We were the kindling for their fires.

We must take care about who we follow, especially on social media and cable news.  They hew axes and wield saws.  They are destructive and pay no mind to Jesus and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  They are wolves.  

Too many of us have built house of straw and wood to be blown down by those using us for their own good.  Too many of us are part of our nation’s moral breakdown.  We have allowed ourselves to be ravaged by liars and scoundrels.

Deacon David Pierce