6th September, 2015: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 35: 4-7; Jas 2: 1-5; Mk 7: 31-37
The deaf hear and the dumb speak... that was not merely a statement of compliment to Jesus, but it was an expression of a hopeful longing! A longing of generations that the Reign of God would be established wiping every tear off the eyes of humanity. When Jesus did these wonders among people, they found in those wonders and signs the very symptoms of the imminent Reign of God, as foretold by the prophets of old. They hoped it would come around atleast then. ...and Jesus did promise them that. I have come that I may proclaim the year of the Lord, initiating the Reign on earth (cf. Lk 4: 18), declared Jesus. Anyway, Jesus was not deceiving them or letting them down; he told them clearly, the Reign of God is among you (Lk 17:21). If they wanted to make it present or make it a reality, they could have done it. They were not ready for it. The challenge is the very same today... if we want it we can make it a reality today, here and now! But we are not ready; we do not want to! 'Oh no... how we wish it became a reality today', we might say. But the Word challenges us today: Do you really want the Reign present here and now? Then...
1. Behold the Reign
If I truly wish that Reign is established here and now, I have to firstly believe that the Reign is amidst us. Through persons of good will, through initiatives of selfless promotion of well being of the downtrodden, through the numerous who are ready to lay their lives down for a cause that might not concern their good at all, through the ascendancy that God has over the earth, the humanity and history, the Reign is in reality present right in our midst and all that I need to do is realise it. There are so many signs of it; there are ample evidences of it. God is at work in reality, let us acknowledge it. In partnering with persons and agencies of good will, in recognising the presence of the Lord in the world through various simple signs, in attributing to God every single inspiration to common good, we behold the presence of the Region here amidst us. The first reading from Isaiah presents us these symptoms of the reign.
2. Block not the Reign
There are certain attitudes and habits through which I become a block or an hindrance to the Reign. The mere fact that I too belong to the so called church and I too have received the Baptism doesn't guarantee that I will allow the Reign come alive here and now. Discriminations on the basis of any criterion - caste or colour or community or availability of resources - is an apparent block to the Reign, says James today.
3. Be Agents of the Reign
The ultimate call is to be positive agents of the Reign in the manner that each one is called to be. My words and attitudes, my thoughts and convictions, my deeds and dispositions have to be Reign friendly. They have to be life giving. They should offer the light to the blind, the voice to the dumb, the hearing to the deaf, the liberation to the suffering... I need to become the agent of the Reign of God here and now. How long am I going to blame the other, moan the times and wait without doing anything? The call is clear: to actively do my part in making present the Reign here and now. How ready am I for the sacrifices involved? How prepared am I to take upon myself the hardships that would come my way and the inconveniences i would have to put up with?
Happy are those who hunger and thirst for the Reign of God, for they shall be satisfied!
