Readings (Year A):
Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16
Reflection: A jolt from the Spirit
I grew up in the Catholic Charismatic movement, attending prayer meetings and healing masses where there was an emphasis on personal healing. But in today’s first reading, I recognized the connection between caritas, or charity, and personal healing—a message I never heard preached in charismatic circles. According to this reading, when we offer care to the hungry, the homeless, and the naked—our marginalized neighbors—our own wounds shall “quickly be healed.”
There can be aspects of our faith practice that keep us fixed on a navel-gazing model. I believe this scripture is reminding us that healing in our own body is linked to working towards healing in the body of Christ, with a preferential option for the poor and marginalized. What I noticed about this first reading is the lack of ambiguity or equivocation on the call to serve those in need. This passage begins, “Thus says the Lord.” This is not a soft suggestion. Rather, each act of mercy is a commandment.
Many in our country, and sadly in the U.S. church, promote a message against the marginalized. Undocumented immigrants are declared to be “illegals” and treated with disgust. These are largely people who left their homes for physical and economic safety. Our undocumented brothers and sisters literally have no home, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are denying them a home in the United States. The command from God couldn’t be any clearer: we must support and defend the oppressed and those who are denied a home in our nation.
Thus, as Catholics, we should also not equivocate with regard to justice for the migrants, the homeless, the poor, and the oppressed. We must recognize that they too are the body of Christ, and as the first reading states, we cannot turn our back on our own. The marginalized ought not to be “othered.” The level of inclusion the scripture promotes is to recognize the marginalized as our people, our own family.
The first reading’s emphasis on service to the oppressed reveals that charity allows the divine light within us to shine more brightly, enabling us to both become more like God and united with God. Charitable works not only bring healing to us, but as the Eastern fathers preached, can lead us on the journey to divinization. Union with God and imitation of God’s ways are the greatest form of healing.
Turning back to my experience of the charismatic movement, many of us came to these gatherings with sadness and pain, with the hope that this jolt from the Spirit would give us a fix. Today’s first reading, on the other hand, reveals that our care towards the afflicted can give us the lasting exodus from darkness and gloom to abide in the light and joy that only God can provide.
May we share our bread with the hungry and satisfy the afflicted so that we can be united with God and united to the body of Christ.
Add comment