23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 9, 2012
12 Noon Liturgy
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
Karl Rahner was a theological giant of the twentieth century. His
thought was learned, sophisticated and frequently dense. So some were
surprised when he was asked toward the end of his life: “Father Rahner, do
you believe in miracles?” His answer: “No, I do not believe in miracles. I
rely on them to get through each day.”
A contemporary theologian speaking in the same vein reminds us that
“Miracles are always present within our lives.” The real question is: are we
present to them? It seemed somehow easier for previous generations to
appreciate the miraculous. I remember that my grandmother lived her
whole life with such an apparently easy gratitude for the miracles everyday.
Of course for her, the sun rising in the east each day was reason enough to
thank and praise God. It was a miracle!
We live in a more skeptical time. It’s not so easy for those of us
convinced of a scientific reasoning that seems to explain everything within its
own parameters. So we’re not quite as present to all the little things that
might be miracles–even if they do have scientific explanations.
The gospel stories are full of healing scenes. Today we have one such
healing story unique to Mark’s gospel. In fact there are two healing stories
that are unique to Mark and they are the only two in all the gospels where
Jesus “gets dirty” performing the healing. Healing comes not through just
his word or prayer, or thought. Healing is rendered by spit or dirt. (The
other story is in Mark’s eighth chapter and is usually known as the healing of
the blind man at Bethsaida. There Jesus puts mud on the man’s eyes twice
before the man can see correctly.)
Have you ever wondered if there is anything that connects all these
stories? Was Jesus just another miracle worker? Was that the point of his
healing people? Remember that there were plenty of other itinerant healers
wandering around first century Palestine. Jesus seems to want to distance
himself quite explicitly from that phenomenon. He did not come for his 15
minutes of fame as a healer. No, there is always a sub-text when Jesus heals.
What might it be? Hint: it must have something to do with his Father’s
Kingdom. It does!
To be deaf and “dumb” as today’s gentleman is was to have more than
just a physical handicap. His speech impediment and hearing loss would
have done two other things as well. He would have been excluded from the
community of Israel because his physical disease made it quite clear that he
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must have been a sinner as well. Sinners were always shunned as well!
This was their world; this was Jesus’ world that he was about to
subvert. Fortunately many of us centuries later realize the rather primitive
nature of these explanations. Many of us, but not, unfortunately, all. But
we need to deal with the world views of Jesus’ contemporaries in order to
really understand what’s going on.
So in his healing gesture, Jesus does two other things. He forgives the
man his sin and he includes him again within the community. In fact, this is
a hallmark of just about all of Jesus healing ministry. Think of the lepers
who come to him. They are instructed to “go to the priests” and be
reinstated within the walls of the city. Think of the insane man, the one we
call the demoniac, who watches his demons rush into the pigs and over the
cliff. And he, too, becomes again a “normal Israelite.”
Think of the
woman taken in adultery. She is told quite explicitly: “your sins are
forgiven, I do not condemn you. Now go and sin no more.” (As an aside,
notice here Jesus does not say: If you sin no more I will forgive you.” It’s the
other way around: know you are forgiven in God’s love; now live that way!)
Forgiveness and inclusion are at the heart of his whole ministry. That’s the
bigger point being made–always.
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We could go on with other healing stories. Do that yourself sometime
and watch how many are about these same two dynamics: forgiveness and
inclusion. From the very beginning of his ministry, there is never
justification for excluding anyone. All are welcome in God’s house and
kingdom. All. Always. Especially the sinners, the strange, the outcasts,
the weird ones.
Jesus never gets angry towards sinners or towards anyone outcast or
marginalized. He only gets angry at those who think they are already
righteous by their own doing. And he has harsh words, indeed, for those.
But there is another quality to all the healing stories in the gospels.
And it is evident in today’s story as well. There is always a mellowness, a
tenderness, a compassion that characterizes Jesus’ whole demeanor. As he
walks through his own world he is always “gentle and tender of heart” as
foreshadowed by Isaiah and Psalm 146 from today’s readings. His presence
alone brings peace. How many of us can say that of ourselves or anyone
else?
So these three things at least always seem to characterize the healing
presence of Jesus in our world. 1. He always brings forgiveness first.
Forgiving is what God does best, he says. 2. He always seeks to include
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everybody, but the marginalized, the outsiders, the excluded (for whatever
reason) have a priority. 3. And he does it all with a gentleness and peace
that was infectious.
Maybe this is why Father Rahner could see so many miracles in his own
life. Because whenever he saw the opportunity to forgive, to include rather
than exclude, and to be mellow and gentle with everyone he encountered, God
became real. And God became present–here and now.
For St. James, this all has to be translated into your modern synagogue
or church. How do we treat each other? Every Sunday together? Every
day with others? If this is Jesus as a model for us, it will depend on what we
do for each other. “For as often as you did it for one of the least of mine, you
did it for me.” Can any of us live lives of forgiveness, of inclusion, of
gentleness? There can be miracles all around us. It just depends on whether
we can be present enough to them in how we act toward each other.
Courage and Peace!
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