September 10, 2018
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) on September 9, 2018, at St. Austin Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-5; and Mark 7:31-37.
Our first reading today is a beautiful passage from Isaiah, telling us of what things will happen when the LORD comes: the blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, the lame shall dance, the mute shall sing, and the desert shall have abundant water.
Our gospel passage is a sign that the LORD has indeed come. Jesus heals a man who is mute and deaf. And our second reading, from James, instructs us how we, as Christians living in the age of the LORD, are to treat one another.
But perhaps you’re not feeling so blessed these days. Many people are experiencing major transitions in their lives. After a few weeks of thinking we’re on top of our academic game, perhaps the homework is starting to pile up now. Once again, we’re in an election season that is extremely negative.
But no matter what our personal feelings are today, we must remember that God continues to unfold his plan for creation, to reconcile the world to himself. Let us take a moment to remember that we are both recipients and agents of God’s mercy.
Do you remember a few years ago when everyone was making a big deal about the Mayan calendar? The Mayans have a very long calendar that completed one of its 5,125-year cycles on the first day of winter in 2012. When I was in Guatemala during the summer of 2011, I talked with some people of Mayan descent. No one in Guatemala believed that December 21 would be the end of the world, but they appreciated all the tourists who were planning to come visit the country before then, just in case!
However, I know people here in the United States who speak as if the end of the world may come on Tuesday evening, November 6, 2018. Some think that the world will end if the Republicans maintain their majority in Congress. Other people think that the world will end if the Democrats win control. Or maybe you’re more like me, worried that no matter who is elected, our political leaders will fail to conduct even the simplest day-to-day operations of running the government. And it seems virtually impossible for them to conduct reasonable conversations about some truly complicated, vexing problems facing us right now.
So, whether you’re a conservative, a liberal, a moderate, or a believer in cosmic conspiracies, you may be experiencing a sense of impending doom this fall. Well, we’re not the first people to feel this way. Think of the nation of ancient Israel: they experienced a brief “Golden Era” during the reigns of David and Solomon 3,000 years ago, but then they experienced a fractioning of the country, followed by slow decline, destruction, exile, and domination by foreign powers. Just like us, they experienced long droughts, although there was no debate about global warming back them. And yet God spoke these words to the people through the prophet Isaiah:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
But there’s a difference between us and the ancient Israelites: we believe that the LORD has already come to save us. Jesus’ earthly ministry has moved us into a new era. As we like to say, the kingdom of God is “already but not yet” here. “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Matthew 11:5).
And yet, politically, we’re in a bleak time. Because of a multitude of forces, our election process produces candidates who are more extreme than most of the general population. Over time, due to what we see in the media, we have become accustomed to people on both sides of the aisle resorting to “scorched earth” politics. And sadly, we as a people are slowly forgetting how to have meaningful, respectful conversations about the issues. We are losing the ability to listen to people who have ideas and opinions that are different than our own. And sadly, both the Republican and Democratic platforms contain substantial planks that are in opposition to Catholic teaching.
There’s something rather remarkable in U. S. politics right now: Catholics are over-represented in the federal government. We make up less than 25% of the population. Catholics currently serve in more prominent elected offices in this country than ever before, and Catholic politicians cover the entire liberal-conservative spectrum. Catholics make up more than 30% of Congress. Catholics hold 22 of the 50 state governorships. Catholics hold 4 out of 8 seats on the Supreme Court, and it may become 5 out of 9 seats in the next few weeks. Our previous vice president was Catholic, and our current one was raised Catholic.
I hate to break it to anyone voting in their first election this fall, but there is often a sense of having to “hold one’s nose” when voting. A vote for almost any candidate requires us to abandon certain Catholic values in order to preserve others. The Catholic Church is clear, however: we are each obligated to participate in the political process. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option. We must work to make our world a place that carries out God’s justice, God’s mercy, God’s peace, and God’s love.
But it’s tough. There is so much money in politics that it seems impossible for any of us to have an impact. How can we find a voice? How can we make anyone hear our concerns? Once we’ve made up our minds that one party or the other is closer to our ideals, there’s a temptation to support that party at all costs, rather than to work to support all Christian ideals, whether or not those ideals are supported by the party we’ve chosen.
[Pause.] There are very few times in the gospels where the evangelists report the words of Jesus in the original Aramaic, but today is one of them. Jesus uses the command ephphatha, or “be opened!” This word is so important to us Catholics. Before we bring someone into the Church through baptism – whether that person is an infant or an adult – we have the option to touch their ears and mouth and pray that they will “be opened.” I’m pretty sure that ephphatha is the only Aramaic word used in the Roman Catholic liturgy today.
When we were baptized, many of us were commanded to be opened. But open to what? Open to listening to God’s Word. Open to the saving power of the gospel. Open to having the Holy Spirit work through us. Open to really listening to people who disagree with us. Open to having meaningful dialogue about the challenges facing us as a people.
Despite the rhetoric right now, politics does not need to be a “zero sum” game. As we say in the prayer of absolution, “God, the Father of Mercies, through the death and resurrection of his son has reconciled the world to himself.” In the political process, we can serve as agents of reconciliation. Several years ago, I saw a picture of a protest sign outside the U. S. Capitol building that read: “What do we want?! Respectful discourse. When do we want it?! Now would be agreeable to me, but I am interested in your opinion.” Ephphatha! This fall and for the rest of our lives, let us be open to the possibilities. And like the people who witnessed the curing of the deaf man, may we never stop proclaiming God’s reconciling message.