Student or Victim

Learning from the past for a better future

07/15/2025

Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

The Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously said: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” In other words, we must all either become students of history or we will become victims of the future. Last night I enjoyed dinner at a family’s home and had the opportunity to share a little history lesson.

The father of the family asked me as we were beginning our dessert of strawberries and crème – which was perfect since the world had just watched Wimbledon on Sunday – what is the meaning and origin of the term “anti-Semitic”? Well, the phrase has a long and sordid past, and there are various paths down which I could have searched for an answer.

But I took the etymological route and explained that “semite” comes from the name “Shem,” who was the firstborn son of Noah. That is, a Semite is really a Shemite. According to Genesis 10 after the devastating Flood, God starts a new creation, a second creation story. Genesis 10 recounts how all 70 nations of the world descended from the 3 sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japeth.

And the Jews are descended from Shem and thus they are called Shemites, or semites. Therefore, to be antisemitic means to be anti-Jewish. In other words, antisemitism is not something that started wit Hitler and the Jewish Holocaust; it started when Noah got off the ark (as we proverbially say). Because Hitler was not a good student of history, he became a victim of the future.

In the gospel today Jesus also gives a history lesson so the Jews do not become victims of their future. He recalls the destruction that befell Tyre and Sidon through the prophesy of Joel, and the fire and brimstone that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah turning it into the Dead Sea. But did the Jews recognize their plight and turn to the Messiah? Well, just read the history books: Jerusalem was leveled in 70 AD by the Roman General Titus and the Tenth Legion.

What are some ways we can become students of history? If you are a shrewd financial planner, you know that past performance is one of the best predictors of the future possibilities of a given stock. Becoming a student of a given stock’s history helps you avoid becoming a victim of the same stock’s future.

Another example is the long and grueling annulment process, which is in effect a personal history lesson. We ask the petitioner – the person applying for an annulment – to tell us about their parents, their siblings, their childhood, their dating experiences, and how and when they fell in love with their ex-spouse.

Now, many people seeking an annulment feel like all that is a huge waste of time. Why? Because what they really want to talk about is how terrible their ex was, and how he or she was really at fault for the break-up of the marriage, and how the petitioner is entirely innocent, and therefore deserves to get the annulment, so they can finally get rid of this albatross around their neck.

And there may be some truth to what the petitioner claims about the character flaws in the respondent (the ex-spouse). But the annulment process is asking a deeper question: what have you learned from your own family history, your family dynamics, from your parents, your siblings, and your childhood. As Aristotle wisely said: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.”

The last question in the annulment form is perhaps the most telling one: “What have you learned at the end of this annulment process?” If all they can manage to come up with is: “My ex-spouse was a jerk,” then they have been a very poor student of their own history. And more tragically, they will likely repeat those same mistakes – and there are always mistakes by both parties – in their future marriages.

And when you think about it, isn’t the entire Mass another example of “becoming students of history so that we don’t become victims of the future”? At the ambo (pulpit) we listen and learn from the Scriptures as they recount the collective history of the People of God, which is a long list of our endless mistakes. And then we move to the altar and receive the Eucharist, so we have the grace to not keep making the same mistakes over and over. Student or victim.

Praised be Jesus Christ!