In the second reading St. James speaks to us about the importance of showing the same impartiality to others that God shows to us. If God doesn't make distinctions between rich and poor, then who are we to do so?
In fact, if there is to be any partiality shown, it should be shown to the poor whom God chooses to be the people through whom the kingdom of God is passed on to, to the rest of humanity. Recall for a moment the words of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth: God will lift up the lowly, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty handed!
Today in the Roman Catholic Tradition we call this “a preferential option for the poor,” a corner stone of Catholic Social Teaching. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus doing the same. Jesus not only attracted but invited and reached out to the poor, the sick, the sinner and the social and religious outcast. These actions of Jesus are the Gospel roots for the preferential option for the poor.
Jesus’ message of God’s deep and profound love for all of us was most strikingly demonstrated in his care and concern for those who were marginalized and ostracized by his society.
He continually reached out to and raised up the “the least ones” of his society. Often enough they were people who others found a bit uncomfortable to be around…they were not the ones given seats of honor at banquets or at synagogues, they were the ones that most people would cross to the other side of the street in order to avoid contact with.
In the ancient world, very often sickness was tethered to sin; it was thought to be a punishment from God. Remember when Jesus and a group of his followers encountered the man born blind and they asked Jesus: who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither, this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9: 1-3).
So, the man we encounter in today’s Gospel was most likely thought to be a sinner by some and yet Jesus immediately responds to the request to heal him -- no questions about who he was or what his background was. Jesus responds with compassion and heals him and thus restores him to bodily wholeness and in doing so, restores him to his community for no one could any longer claim his illness as a sign of his sinfulness and shun him, cutting him off from family and community.
It’s completely understandable that we all want our lives to be prosperous and to be neat and tidy and full of agreeable people, but what do we do when “other things happen” and “other folks” show up in our lives…when we encounter the same kinds of marginal situations and people, the ones Jesus himself loved and welcomed? How do we respond?
In the midst of so much division, hurt and anger in our world, in our country and in our church, how is the Holy Spirit calling me to respond to the one who is “other”?
I think these readings today beg the question: how do I show my preferential option for the poor? Who do I offer a seat at my table? We need to ask ourselves: on what realities or qualities do I judge the value of other people…by their clothes, or their occupation, by where they live, by their politics, by who they love, or by how attractive they are, by their physical abilities, or by their gender, or by where they were born, or by the color of their skin, or by their immigration status…? Or, filled with the Holy Spirit, are we able to see them as they truly are, based on the reality of their identity as children of God…our sisters, our brothers, “the beloved of God”, and then treat them and care for them as such? That is our call as disciples of Jesus Christ, and nothing less…to do as Jesus did!
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
In fact, if there is to be any partiality shown, it should be shown to the poor whom God chooses to be the people through whom the kingdom of God is passed on to, to the rest of humanity. Recall for a moment the words of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth: God will lift up the lowly, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty handed!
Today in the Roman Catholic Tradition we call this “a preferential option for the poor,” a corner stone of Catholic Social Teaching. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus doing the same. Jesus not only attracted but invited and reached out to the poor, the sick, the sinner and the social and religious outcast. These actions of Jesus are the Gospel roots for the preferential option for the poor.
Jesus’ message of God’s deep and profound love for all of us was most strikingly demonstrated in his care and concern for those who were marginalized and ostracized by his society.
He continually reached out to and raised up the “the least ones” of his society. Often enough they were people who others found a bit uncomfortable to be around…they were not the ones given seats of honor at banquets or at synagogues, they were the ones that most people would cross to the other side of the street in order to avoid contact with.
In the ancient world, very often sickness was tethered to sin; it was thought to be a punishment from God. Remember when Jesus and a group of his followers encountered the man born blind and they asked Jesus: who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, “Neither, this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9: 1-3).
So, the man we encounter in today’s Gospel was most likely thought to be a sinner by some and yet Jesus immediately responds to the request to heal him -- no questions about who he was or what his background was. Jesus responds with compassion and heals him and thus restores him to bodily wholeness and in doing so, restores him to his community for no one could any longer claim his illness as a sign of his sinfulness and shun him, cutting him off from family and community.
It’s completely understandable that we all want our lives to be prosperous and to be neat and tidy and full of agreeable people, but what do we do when “other things happen” and “other folks” show up in our lives…when we encounter the same kinds of marginal situations and people, the ones Jesus himself loved and welcomed? How do we respond?
In the midst of so much division, hurt and anger in our world, in our country and in our church, how is the Holy Spirit calling me to respond to the one who is “other”?
I think these readings today beg the question: how do I show my preferential option for the poor? Who do I offer a seat at my table? We need to ask ourselves: on what realities or qualities do I judge the value of other people…by their clothes, or their occupation, by where they live, by their politics, by who they love, or by how attractive they are, by their physical abilities, or by their gender, or by where they were born, or by the color of their skin, or by their immigration status…? Or, filled with the Holy Spirit, are we able to see them as they truly are, based on the reality of their identity as children of God…our sisters, our brothers, “the beloved of God”, and then treat them and care for them as such? That is our call as disciples of Jesus Christ, and nothing less…to do as Jesus did!
Blessings,
Fr. Tim
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