Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) When Jesus proclaims “glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free,” he is stating that his mission will show a preferential option to the poor and vulnerable. His stated mission is also the answer he gives to the messengers from the imprisoned John the Baptist when John asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus’ answer to this question is, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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 11:3-5)
Later this same preferential option for the poor becomes the reason the King calls home, those “who are blessed by my Father.” (CF Matthew 25:34) With the parable of the last judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) we see that Jesus’ mission is our mission as well. More than our mission it is how we also encounter the risen Christ. … And, by extension, it is how we experience the Kingdom of God.
This touches on the age-old debate of faith v. works regarding the basis for salvation. As in many arguments, the answer to the faith/works debate is not found on either side of a dualistic debate of polar opposites. The answer for the Christian is not either faith or works; rather, the answer is that both faith and works are called for. To quote St. James’ epistle… “Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:18 &20) So if you accept that both faith and works are required, then what comes first? This is the classic chicken or the egg debate.
More than a humorous anecdote it is worth pondering, what comes first, faith or works? There are probably solid arguments for either perspective. I would argue (as some have) that we do not think ourselves into a new way of living, as much as we live our way into a new way of thinking. An example in my own life is when I take the time to visit a person who is needy, or sick, or in prison. It seems to me that I learn a great deal more about what Jesus is proclaiming from Isaiah (above) than I do from a theological reflection on the preferential option for the poor. It is not that reflecting on the theory of care for the marginalized is unimportant. I hope not, I have spent a good deal of time reading articles on social justice. However, what I come away with after bringing communion or food and prayer to someone in a desperate situation is much more than a good feeling. In the actual exchange, we experience a grace that descends on both of us that is beyond mere words or theological principles. I come to know, in my gut, what Jesus meant when he said, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40b)
Just to be clear, what I am speaking about is not about “fixing” or philanthropy. It is almost entirely experience and presence. Sure, there is an element of meeting the needs of someone, but this is secondary to the message one brings, that the other is not alone. There is also mutuality in this experience where the giver, receives and the receiver, gives. This calls me to something else Jesus said, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” (John 14:20) This by definition is Heaven – if only a little peek. And then you might exclaim, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
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