Readings (Year B):
Deuteronomy 4:1–2, 6–8
Psalm 15:2–5
James 1:17–18, 21–22, 27
Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23
Reflection: God’s justice today
The dehumanizing treatment of migrants across the globe is one of the greatest scandals of our time. Here in the United States, every time a new president is elected, a new court ruling is made, or a new local leader becomes vocal, thousands of undocumented folks come face-to-face with their own fragile and vulnerable realities. I have seen it as a native of the southern border and now, in my ministry at Dominican University in Chicago, I witness the difficulties of navigating systems in which young adults take on the usual added pressures of tuition and heavy course loads while existing under the precarious band-aid solution of DACA.
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy, Moses exhorts the Israelites to follow God’s commandments. His reasoning is not simply “just because.” Quite the opposite, he says, “For what great nation is there, that has gods so close to it as the Lord our God, is to us, whenever we call upon him” (Deut. 4:7)? The commandments are not to be obeyed because they are given by an arbitrary, strict God, but because we are participating with God. We are in relationship with a God who is close to us and commands justice. The responsorial psalm reminds us of that saying, “The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord” (Ps. 15).
Jesus says of himself: “Do not think that I have come to abolish Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17). He is not inviting the Jewish peoples to reject all they have ever known (for Jesus himself was of course a Jew), but urging them to understand that passive acceptance of tradition risks defiling themselves. God does not want passivity of us, but rather desires active relationship with us so we can participate in God’s justice.
Today’s readings invite us to think about how we participate in structures which have, for so long, been broken. From a Catholic or Christian perspective, an immigration system that dehumanizes young people, shatters their sense of self, and causes them to question their own sense of belonging is broken. Its passive acceptance defiles us all. The scriptures invite us to rethink traditions, laws, and rules, not based on nationalism or selfishness, but on how we might better participate in structures that carry out God’s will.
Ultimately, we must remember that elsewhere in in the gospels, when asked what the greatest commandment is—or better said, how we might fully participate in God’s will—Jesus answers: “Love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul” and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28–31). So let us love our neighbor. Let us take their realities, their distress, to be our own. For that is God’s justice.
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