XXIII Sunday of Ordinary Time

Readings:

• Isaiah 35:4-7 – God comes to open our blind eyes, to clear our deaf ears, to strengthen our lame legs, to turn the thirsting ground into springs of water.
• James 2:1-5 – Your faith must not allow favoritism. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith?
• Mark 7:31-37 – Jesus has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week’s readings invite us to embrace our limitations. The power of Jesus and the prophesy of Isaiah are not measured by social, political or economic dominance. Instead we are told that the Kingdom of God is manifested when the wounded members of the human community are made whole through the power of God. Through God the blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dumb will speak. For us to truly appreciate the meaning behind these two readings we need to move away from literal interpretation and ask, “Who is the blind person?” The 9^th Chapter (verse 39) of the Gospel of John will help us with the spiritual significance of these readings:

Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

We humans are all limited. While we may see and hear we are limited by what we see and hear from the narrow perspective of our experience. This experience may cause us to place faith on our own political ideologies or financial abilities. Others will base their own perspective from their national or tribal allegiance while some may identify more with a certain social class. In this sense we all suffer from some kind of social blindness. None of us can claim to see or comprehend the Kingdom of God. If we choose to open ourselves to ways of God and Christ then we must first humble ourselves in accepting our own limitations. However we must also be open to the fact that this perspective is going to challenge us to serve all of God’s creation instead of ourselves. St. Paul of the Cross used the term “the greater good” in his spiritual writings to help us make the distinction between the self serving good that we tend to desire and the true but challenging good that comes from God.

How beautiful it is to suffer with Jesus… let us use every endeavor to seek holy perfection, humility, obedience, and, above all, a continual resignation to the Divine Good Pleasure. You think what is happening is opposed to your good; to the contrary, you should know these are designed by your loving Spouse for your greater good.   

Only in accepting the will of God and in serving God’s creation can we truly be made whole. Symbolically the blind and deaf were made whole by accepting the grace and power of God to preach the Good news in words and in deeds. All of us who suffer from some form of blindness need to humble ourselves to the Divine Will from which we can gain the true sight where we can begin to comprehend the greater good that serves God and all of creation.

The second reading from James reminds us of our social blindness. Social favoritism is as much an issue in today’s day and age as it was for the early Christian community. How many times do we not equate a favorable attitude to those who wield some form of social power and status while dismissing the panhandlers and beggars who confront us? I continue to be guilty of this social sin. The point is not to wallow in our own guilt but to reflect on this social reality and as much as we can we need to adjust our own personal attitudes and social positions to consider the wounded human community that have just as much God given dignity as we all have. It is for this reason that Catholic social teaching has raised the principle known as the “Preferential Option for the Poor.” The poor are a constant reminder to us that the greater good of society is not being met. We must prioritize the good of our own family and local community for which we have been given responsibility for. But we must never allow ourselves to be blind to the reality of the poor and marginalized in our midst.

These social lenses may challenge us to our very core, but as the readings remind us, this is where God comes in.

One Response to “XXIII Sunday of Ordinary Time”

1. Deacon Tony says:

   September 2, 2009 at 2:31 pm

   What an excellect homily, what a great reflection on this week’s Gopel. Would that we all gain true sight to see and true hearing to hear the cries of the poor, the marginalized and the voiceless and respond to them in loving service.