Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Title

Loving the Outsider

Outline

I have been listening to the biography of Pope Benedict XVI this week

What is clear about him at the time of Vatican II, the end of this volume, is that he was committed to expressing Catholic faith in a way that welcomed the non-Catholic

He found the materials for this approach in the Scripture and in the Church Fathers

He embodied it in his un-trumpeted personal piety and his unassuming manner and simple lifestyle

That is the message of our readings this morning

Isaiah says that God comes with vindication

But he does not focus on the true prophet or the faithful priest or the loyal king

He focuses on the “fearful of heart,” the blind, the deaf, and the lame - those outside the establishment

They need not fear God’s coming, for he will come with vindication and care for them - he welcomes them

James warns the church about accepting mostly those from whom they could get something or who would give them status

No, show equal welcome for that homeless woman on the back row at the side who came in hoping to get warm (or cool) - make sure that she is invited to the reception (which we had at Our Lady of Walsingham) or the coffee hour after the mass or other service - then the love of God lives in you

I remember how I smiled at the reaction of doctors and lawyers when they learned at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church that there would be special presentations of the building program to factory owners - doctors and lawyers did not count. That church is now an Anglican church and the building belongs to the Episcopal diocese.

On the other hand, one impressive item at Our Lady of Walsingham was seeing rich and poor, local hispanics and suburban societal elites sitting together in church with provision made for the handicapped, including motorized wheelchairs. That sounded to me more like James.

Finally we have Jesus, by now an important figure

He is outside Jewish territory, but still busy.

A man is brought who is deaf and can hardly speak.

Jesus does not ignore him for more impressive issues, and he does not just wave his hand and say “Be healed” so he can get on with his business, but he takes him aside alone, he focuses on him.

Then he heals him in a way he could understand: the gesture of touching the tongue and spitting, the gesture of looking up to heaven and saying - in Aramaic - an expressive word for his prayer. The man was healed, but he also knew that he was loved, that he was fully received by Jesus

No wonder people exclaimed “He has done all things well” - perhaps they felt his openness to them as well

Sisters, it is easy to focus on those who are like us, simpatico, or those who can help us get our tasks done

Jesus, James and Isaiah call us to reach out to those who are different than us and to draw them in through caring for them

And we do this without giving up the Catholic faith, but by expressing it as the early church did

Then-Joseph Ratzinger did it by writing theological documents that did not condemn the non-Catholic or non-Christian, but which expressed the faith in an understandable and welcoming manner, which is why Vatican II and documents inspired by it are read and understood outside the Church.

You may do it by showing the love of God to perhaps an obnoxious fellow-student or a difficult or rejected child in your class

However you do it, keep before your eyes the God who vindicates the blind and the lame, the Church who cares for the poor, and the Jesus who takes time to focus on a deaf mute

Then we will be part of the evangelism that Pope Benedict spoke about

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 9-5-2021: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING

Isaiah 35:4–7a

4 Say to the fearful of heart:

Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God,

he comes with vindication;

With divine recompense

he comes to save you.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall see,

and the ears of the deaf be opened;

6 Then the lame shall leap like a stag,

and the mute tongue sing for joy.

For waters will burst forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the Arabah.

7 The burning sands will become pools,

and the thirsty ground, springs of water;

The abode where jackals crouch

will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.

Catholic Daily Readings 9-5-2021: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

RESPONSE

Psalm 146:1b

1 Hallelujah!

PSALM

Psalm 146:6–10

6 The maker of heaven and earth,

the seas and all that is in them,

Who keeps faith forever,

7 secures justice for the oppressed,

who gives bread to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free;

8 the LORD gives sight to the blind.

The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;

the LORD loves the righteous.

9 The LORD protects the resident alien,

comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,

but thwarts the way of the wicked.

10 The LORD shall reign forever,

your God, Zion, through all generations!

Hallelujah!

Catholic Daily Readings 9-5-2021: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

SECOND READING

James 2:1–5

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

Catholic Daily Readings 9-5-2021: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Matthew 4:23

23 He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.

GOSPEL

Mark 7:31–37

31 Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 9-5-2021: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 | ORDINARY TIME

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

YEAR B | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Isaiah 35:4–7a

Response Psalm 146:1b

Psalm Psalm 146:6–10

Second Reading James 2:1–5

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 4:23

Gospel Mark 7:31–37

GREEN