GOD OF “THE POOR”
Undoubtedly, God is a God of the poor, the needy and the less privileged. A God whose thoughts, words and actions offer us comfort, healing, restoration and transformation from our situations.
The Word of God should be consoling and reassuring, especially to the poor and the seemingly hopeless situations that face us daily. It comforts us at our trials, difficulties and even temptations when we feel like giving up to hopelessness.
The Holy Scripture is not the only inspirational Word of God. It is also the encouraging words spoken, by the Holy Spirit through our brothers and sisters to lift us. They could also be the words of prayers and songs at our liturgical celebrations meant to inspire and elevate us.
ENCOURAGING WORDS FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF OTHERS
Whether it is the Word of God in the Holy Scripture, prayers, songs or spoken words through a human medium. A word meant to uplift, assure and encourage us to have faith and trust in the promises of God. Hence, we opt to be careful with our choice of words. More so, the words we use to communicate with others, especially the poor and less privileged who seek God daily through us.
Our words should never be judgemental or abusive against anyone. They should never dampen the spirit of men, especially the poor, the needy and the less privileged in our world. Sadly, we live in a world where most of our words put others down and kill their struggling or surviving spirit.
OUR THEME
The readings of this Sunday encourage us to have faith in God, who wants to save us from our difficulties and helpless circumstances. They call and challenge us to have a special place for the poor, the needy and the less privileged who are beaten, by the harshness of life daily.
The first reading and the gospel are correlated with the themes of fulfilling promises of healing, restoration and hope in Christ Jesus. The prophecy of Isaiah envisions the Messianic age of Christ. The passage of the gospel of Mark today fulfils this vision in the person of Christ. The Lord, Saviour and Messiah came to heal and restore us to wholeness, especially the poor, the sick and the lowly.
THE READINGS CALL US TO FAITH AND ACTION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We are invited to trust or have faith in God and his promises to save us in Christ Jesus. They also call us to action, which we become the instruments of God to bring healing to the sick and afflicted.
We are also challenged to give voice to the voiceless or defenceless. At the same, we encourage to offer a caring love for the poor and needy.
The readings also encourage us to open our ears to hear the Word of God and open our eyes to see the presence of God in everyone. And with our loose tongue praise and worship God loudly, as we convey the Good News of the love and salvation of God to others: the poor, the needy and the sick.
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 35:4-7
The prophecy of Isaiah invites us to take courage in the Word of God and its promises. For God will save his people from every situation or impediment of life. With the powerful statement, Isaiah encouraged the downtrodden hearts, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with his vengeance and with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”
For the Prophet Isaiah, the ever-dwelling presence of God will bring healing and restoration to the blind, deaf, lame and dumb. It will also transform the impossible into the possible presented in the forms of a desert, burning sand, a thirsty ground, or the haunt of jackals. That is a sort of, physical and spiritual infertility.
THE TRANSFORMING PRESENCE OF GOD
A Dramatic turnover of things through the ever-presence of God, who changes or transforms them into living and welling springs, streams, a pool of water and habitable places that signify life, growth, fertility and prosperity.
The prophecy and vision of Isaiah present hope and assurance to a nation or people ravaged by wars and disasters. It is a message of reassurance that God’s presence will heal, restore and transform our situations. “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God”, this is the cry out of the prophet to the drained people of God with hopelessness.
GOD AMID HOPELESSNESS AND HELPLESSNESS
Amid helplessness, the word of God through the prophet Isaiah brings us courage that the presence of God is a signal of joy, safety, and the possibility to live and love in peace. The message of the prophet Isaiah continues to be a word of great comfort to all who hear these words.
Fundamentally, the central message of Prophet Isaiah is that the transformative presence of God can recreate, restore, and rejuvenate the world. The desert, burning sand, thirsty ground or the haunt of Jackal all signify a place that was utterly uninhabitable due to wars, conflicts and violence in the history of Israel.
PSALM 146
The Psalmist in Psalm 146 invites us to celebrate the good news in the face of human frailty and mortality. God remains a trustworthy healer of the sick. Therefore, he encourages everyone to “Praise the Lord” from his soul, spirit, mind and body.
The psalm invites us to celebrate the faithfulness of God to us all amid life’s challenges and difficulties. The psalm also indicates to us the value of truth, justice, and the responsiveness of God, especially to the poor and the needy of all time. At the same time, it acknowledges the goodness of God that extends to all living creatures.
In all the Psalmist describes the qualities that make God praiseworthy and trustworthy. That is the creation, restoration, and caregiving that mark the principal character of God.
SECOND READING: JAMES 2:1-5
St James was direct about how Christians treat the rich and the poor in the House of God, the Christian Church. Unmistakably, James noted an existential problem in the Christian Church or community. Hence, he affirmed strongly that there should be no room for favouritism or class distinction among Christians in the presence of God.
For him, this attitude of class distinction is not only discriminatory, judgemental, and evil. It is also an abuse and despeciation of God through his creation.
The poor, needy, or destitute are valuable persons and souls before God Almighty. They hold a special place in the heart of God. No wonder they are always his chosen ones to shame what the world considers, as powerful, wealthy and intelligibly.
THE IMPARTIAL GOD
The main characteristic of God is his complete impartiality in how He relates or treats each of us despite human nature. This is the central theme of the message of Jesus. It is the most fundamental theme of the New Testament. Invariably, it should be the message of the Christian Church and every Christian.
The Jews believe God is a partial God who loves the Jewish people and hates the rest of us in the world. However, gradually, through divine revelation through the person of Jesus Christ, God manifests that he is for everyone with no exception.
He is a God who loves both saints and sinners. He lets his rain and sunshine on the good and the bad. The way God treats or relates with every one of us is unconditional and unique. He does not consider our creed, race, status, sex or ideologies. He loves and cherishes us as we are with our differences, complexities and idiosyncrasies.
Hence, the Old and New Testaments unite in the condemnation of any form of partiality that exist. That is, of judgment and favouritism of treatment, which comes from giving undue weight to a man with social standing, wealth or worldly influence against the poor, needy or lowly.
SOCIAL STAND AGAINST DISCRIMINATION OR FAVOURITISM
The reading from the Letter of James points out the social issues in human society that could affect the Christian fraternity in the Christ Church.
Predominantly, in the early Christian Church most believers were poor and humble. Therefore if a rich man was converted and came to the Christian fellowship. There was a real temptation to make a fuss of him and treat him as a special trophy for Christ. Even sometimes at the expense of the poor in the same community.
For James, The Church must be the one place where all distinctions are wiped out.
- There can be no distinctions of rank and prestige when men meet in the presence of the King of Glory.
- There can be no distinctions of merit when men meet in the presence of the supreme holiness of God.
- In the presence of God, all earthly distinctions are less than the dust, and all earthly righteousness is as filthy rags.
- In the presence of God, all men are one and equal.
CHRISTIANITY HAS ALWAYS HAD A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR THE POOR
- In the first sermon of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth, his claim was: “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lk.4:18).
- His answer to the puzzling inquiries of John the Baptist whether or not he was the Chosen One of God. He culminated in the claim: “The poor have good news preached to them” (Matt.11:5).
- The first of the Beatitudes was “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt.5:3).
- This was more definite in Luke: “Blessed are you poor; for yours is the Kingdom of God (Lk.6:20).
On the poor, St Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians, that many Christians are of a humble background. He affirmed that brethren, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, and not many were of noble birth (1 Cor.1:26).
James raised some rhetorical questions when he affirmed:
- Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen the poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
- But you dishonour the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you? And is it not they who drag you to the law courts?
- And is it not they who abuse the fair name by which you have been called? (James 2:5-7)
James does not condemn the wealthy. He indicts the attitude of the rich in the way or manner in which they maltreat the poor. The central theme of this text is that faith and partiality do not mix. Especially when partiality is a reflection of the way the world plays favourites.
It is crucial to know that James sets up a dualism for the community—are you a friend of the world or a friend of God? Friends of the world show preference, for the powerful and wealthy, neglecting those struggling to make a living. Meanwhile, those who are friends with God are always with those who suffer. And they seek an end to the causes of their suffering.
ZERO FAVOURITISM IN THE CHURCH
St James is saying that certain forms of favouritism are never acceptable within the community of believers. Everyone is to be treated equally regardless of their social background. Especially, in the context of worship, there should be no special seats for the more socially prominent.
In all areas of church life everyone should feel equally valued. This is very much Paul’s vision of the church as well. In his letter to the Galatians, he declares that in virtue of baptism, ‘there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’
James spells out this vision of Paul, in very practical, terms for us. Eventually, the second reading from James prompts us to ask if any form of unhealthy favouritism is to be found in our own church, our own parish. Are there people we are not noticing? Are they voices we are not hearing? Are there people who would like to be involved in the life of the parish, but who feel that they are not welcome and that their potential contribution is not valued?
THE GOSPEL: MARK 7:31-37
The cure of a man who was deaf and dumb is an open demonstration or association of Christ with the poor, needy and lowly. It displays the humanity of Christ, which Evangelist Mark was good at portraying.
Christ in the Gospel of Mark heals through natural and human media. Jesus uses human salvia, mud, or touch to cure the sick gradually.
THE SENSIBLE AND EMPATHIC CHRIST WITH A HUMAN FACE
Jesus, through his therapeutic technique: private treatment, palpation, spitting, looking to heaven, sighing, and pronouncing the cure for the deaf man, demonstrated the highest point of human quality: empathy.
First, He took the man aside from the crowd, all by himself. Here is the most compassionate consideration of Christ not cause embarrassment or discomfort to the deaf, blind, limp, and dumb for others to see their vulnerability.
Secondly, Christ uses the natural, human, and common way of healing that proves the healing intervention of God takes gradual and steady moments.
HEALING THROUGH HUMAN MEDIUM: THE SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK
Jesus’ healing of the blind and deaf man is quite different from the healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter which preceded it. In that story, Jesus did not take any action other than to announce the healing to the woman. However, in this case, he goes into a careful ritual in seven acts:
(1) He takes the man aside.
(2) He put his fingers into the man’s ears.
(3) He spits and
(4) He touches the man’s tongue.
(5) He looks up to heaven and
(6) He sighs.
(7) He issues the healing command, “Ephphatha.”
WHY DOES JESUS GO INTO ALL THIS?
More importantly, why does Mark record all this? Mark’s church was beginning to develop their rituals of anointing, and the use of special formulas. So they found a model in Jesus’ way of healing humanly. In that case, this was a way of saying to the readers that by participating in these early liturgical ceremonies they would experience healing. And then, after one has experienced this healing, nothing on earth could stop one from proclaiming Jesus, even in the unlikely circumstance that Jesus himself would ask them to keep silent.
THE ESSENCE OF THE GOSPEL OF TODAY
The whole story shows us most vividly that Jesus did not consider the man merely a case. He sees the deaf and dumb man as an individual. That is someone who has a particular need and a unique problem.
Jesus dealt with him, then with the considerateness in a way that spared his feelings of shame and embarrassment.
Finally, when Jesus had completed his work of healing, restoring, and sanitation, those who witnessed this miracle declared that he had done all things well. That is, none other than the verdict of God upon his creation in the beginning (Gen.1:31).
Conclusively, when Jesus came, bringing healing to the bodies of men and salvation to their souls. He had begun the work of creation all over again.
In the beginning, everything had been good. Before the sins of man spoiled it all. And now, Jesus had to bring back the beauty of God to the world which the inclining sinful nature of man had rendered ugly.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
- Are you an instrument of healing, restoration and transformation of God by the way or manner you treat others?
- Do you see and bring the best of humanity in others to fruition despite the horror of sins, diseases and impediments?
- Is your treatment of others dependent, on their race or colour of skin? Their social or economic status? Their beliefs and creeds? Their sex and sexual orientations? Or political or philosophical ideologies or ideological affiliations to life?
- Does your religious and spiritual orientation accommodate the less privileged, the needy, or the poor?
- Do you only have room for the well-to-do and the affluence of society?
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF THE READINGS OF TODAY
Our affliction with Christ as pastor or Christian is greatly determined by how we relate and treat the poor, the needy and the less privileged in your flock or among you.
The presence of God heals, restores and transforms without preference or favouritism, and so does the presence of a Christian or religious leader in the Christian community.
No true Christian faith should promote social discrimination among its followers irrespective of the background. Nor Christians or Christian leaders use a religious platform to promote racial, ethnic, cultural, political, social, economic or sexual ideologies to perpetuate structural evil. Not in the name of God or the Christian Church.
Instead, we should be in our thoughts, words and actions promoters of peace, justice, goodness and well-being. This is the call of Christ on us to all we meet and minister to. We should be instruments of God in the healing, restoration, and transformation of their members in the Church society and world.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Our God, the task for us today in a world full of social discrimination, political corruption, and emotional insensitivities is to make all things well like Christ in the gospel! Give us, the courage to speak out against all classes of structural and hierarchal evil: racial, ethnic, cultural, political, economic, religious, or ideological.
May our thoughts, words and actions bring about change, transformation, and improvement in the world. A with simple things like a loving touch, hug or kiss of peace. Putting on and sharing a smile or whisking of the eye to encourage someone. And above all, a caring and blissful aura of our presence with and around others. Amen!
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