Harmony-Creating a New World

Homily for September 6, 2015 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

Only the Son of God could make spitting and groaning seem almost sacramental!

We all know of Jesus as a powerful healer, but this passage from Mark’s gospel still has the power to make us squirm a bit because of the unusual way that Jesus chooses to heal the man born deaf and with a speech impediment:  he reaches into the man’s ears and, spitting, touches his tongue; then he looks to heaven, groans, and commands that the man’s ears and tongue be opened.   It seems almost a little too “hands-on,” doesn’t it?

But Jesus is doing more than healing the man physically.  He’s also healing him spiritually.  By virtue of his disabilities, the man would be considered ritually unclean; and Jesus makes himself unclean by touching him.  The gospels reveal that this is part of Jesus’ modus operandi:  over and over again, he risks ritual impurity and being socially and religiously ostracized.  He allows himself to be touched by a woman who is bleeding. He sits down for a meal and fellowship with those publicly known as “sinners.”  He reaches out and touches lepers.

His purpose in doing these things isn’t to shock or scandalize people, though it does.  It isn’t to violate the Law of Moses, though it also does (according to the letter).   No, Jesus’ purpose is to fulfill his Father’s will; and as our other Scripture readings so beautifully attest, what God wants most of all is for us to be in harmony with God, with each other, and within ourselves.

Today, thanks to better understanding and laws like Americans with Disabilities Act, we have created a better environment for people who have various disabilities including specially designated parking spots, seats on the bus and “El;” adaptive workplaces; redesigned curbs for people who are blind or need wheelchairs; and sign language interpreters at Mass.

God’s word today urges us to have a similar “preferential option” for people who suffer from what we might call social disabilities, many the result of injustice and other sins:  the economically poor, the oppressed, those imprisoned or held captive, immigrants and other strangers, young people being raised without fathers, single mothers struggling to make it, and many others.  To more concretely celebrate the upcoming Year of Mercy, Pope Francis recently expanded the powers of confessors to assist those who have experienced abortions as well as those who have been involved with a group that has been in schism from the Church.  In addition, he expanded some of the ways in which people could obtain the Jubilee Indulgence.

While such moves may seem remote or even anachronistic to the casual or secular observer, the Pope wants them to convey a deeper message about the depth and breadth of God’s love, compassion and grace.  This is the God echoed by Isaiah in our first reading, the one who encourages those who are frightened:  “Be strong, fear not!  I’m coming to save you!”

In his letter to the early church St. James urged that the early church, instead of adopting and reflecting the values and judgments of the world, to create a new world where God’s justice, peace and the fundamental human dignity of every person are realized and the preferential option for the poor is practiced—and not only in church but in every place beyond. +