23rd Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: God’s approach towards the poor vs ours
Reading: Is 35:4–7; Jam 2:1–5; Mk 7:31–37
Dear friends in Christ, on this twenty-third Sunday, the church invites us to evaluate or re-evaluate our attitudes towards the poor, the less privileged, the oppressed, the weak, the sick, and all those we consider inferior to us intellectually, economically, religiously, etc. The Church wants us to compare our attitudes towards them to God’s approach towards them, to know if we are treating them the way God wants them to be treated or not.
How does God want the poor, the less privileged, the weak and the sick among us to be treated? The first reading of today tells us God’s plan for the oppressed and all those facing challenges in their lives, as well as how we should treat them. God said to them: “Courage, do not be afraid, your God is coming; He will come and save you.” He said He will open the eyes of the blind among them, unblock the ears of the deaf, make the dumb speak, and make water available for those suffering the desert heat. It is a message of hope from a loving Father to His children who are suffering the harsh realities of the wicked world, as well as a message of restoration to those who need help. God’s plan for these people is to help them out of their ugly situations. We should also bring hope to those who are less privileged in the society.
To demonstrate that God’s plan for these our poor and sick brothers and sisters did not end at the level of prophecy but was made concrete, the gospel of today gives us one of the many accounts of what Jesus did for those who suffered the harsh realities of nature and this world. In this gospel, a man who was deaf and dumb was brought to Jesus to be healed. The man suffered from both cultural and physical issues.
His physical problems were that he was deaf and dumb, problems that often make it difficult for those who suffer from them to participate in the social life of the society. The deaf and dumb are often overlooked when people are making decisions in the society. The man was also from a gentile region. As a gentile, he was culturally and religiously prohibited from going close to Jesus, a Jew.
However, when the man was brought to Jesus, Jesus did not turn away; He did not consider the man’s ethnic or religious background. He only saw a child of God in need of God’s blessing; thus, he healed him. Jesus is also asking us to do same when we encounter the needy, the poor, the sick and the less privileged. We should not look at their cultural, religious, economic or family background. We should not look at their nationality, colour, or qualifications. Rather, we should look at them as God’s children in need of help.
Let us look deeper into how Jesus healed the deaf and dumb man. Most times, Jesus performed miracles from a distance, by just telling the person in need that his faith has healed him. But in this healing, Jesus did something unique. He took the man aside and touched him. He even went further by touching the man’s tongue. Jesus established a contact with him. Hence, Jesus showed us what should be our proper attitude and action towards the needy. We should not only help them, we should also go closer to them, touch them, embrace them, feel their pains, and lift them from their misery. We should neither abandon nor discriminate against them.
However, our approach or attitude towards the poor and the needy has not always been consistent with God’s. In today’s second reading, St James described what we have often permitted to be our attitude towards those whom nature and society didn’t favour. St James said we often despise and discriminate against them in favour of the rich. He frowned at all forms of prejudices and discriminations in our families, churches, and society. Thus, to favour some people and disregard others based on race, economic, social, or religious background is a terrible sin against God and man.
Dear friends, the message of St James is still relevant to all of us today, because people still suffer terrible injustice in our families, workplaces, churches, communities, states and everywhere in the world because of who they are, where they come from and the colour of their skin. Many poor and good people are often not valued because of their economic, social, political, religious and cultural status. Indeed, it is sad that favouritism, discrimination, tribalism and racism still afflict our world. But this should not be the case with us as Christians. As Christians, we should shun these social ills as well as pride and selfishness which are their primary causes. This way, we will be able to imitate our God in His treatment of the poor, the needy and the sick.
Peace be with you.
Fr Isaac C. Chima