Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
These days there is a new buzz phrase at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is called the ‘Circle of Protection.’ The Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and representatives of sixty other Christian denominations met with President Obama to urge him and congressional leaders to protect programs for hungry and poor people in decisions surrounding the deficit and debt. The Catholic representative, Bishop Ramirez said, “We come here not to advance a particular plan, but a fundamental moral principle: put the needs of the poor first in allocating scarce resources. As religious leaders, our concern is not which party wins the current political battles, but we know, if we don’t speak up, who is likely to lose: the families trying to feed their kids, the jobless looking for work, the children who need health care, the hungry and sick and hopeless around the world.” It is in this context that Christian leaders in unison are asking the political leaders of the country to place of “Circle of Protection” over those most dependent on government aid for survival.
The phrase, ‘circle of protection’ reminds us of another phrase in the Old Testament – the preferential option for the poor. This means that there is special place in God’s heart for the economically and socially vulnerable. Today’s first reading is an example of this. "You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.” In other words, the laws of the primitive cultures such as the Hebrews recognized that human beings are capable of exploiting the weak and ignoring the needs of the poor. So they built into their religious laws an obligation to protect the poor and the weak. I want you to recognize the connection between the economic needs of the poor and the religious laws. Protecting the poor was not just a social or economic regulation. It was a religious obligation. In this way there was a direct link between God and the poor.
This connection is brought forth even more strongly in today’s gospel reading. When the Pharisees asked Jesus which law was the greatest, he gave them not one but two laws and connected them in ways that had not ever been done before in the Hebrew tradition. He likened the love of neighbor to the love of God and brought all the other laws and prophets under the purview of these two commandments. So today we reflect upon the greatest commandment - "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
I would like to offer three practical implications from these readings.
1. Today’s readings offer a great test for our spiritual health. Put your hands up if your answer to this question is a yes. Do you love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind? This second question will be the true test of your answer. What you have just said about God, is that also true about the poor in our society? Are you able to identify yourself with the weak and powerless of our world? Does it hurt you that by the time we have finished celebrating this Eucharist, a child would have died of hunger? One more time, put your hands up if your answer to this question is a yes. Do you have a genuine concern for the poor and the weak? I hope that your love for the poor comes from the fact that you love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. If our love for the poor does not come from our love for God, then even the best effort we make is only social work, perhaps only a socio-political tool. What am I really saying? I am saying that our love for God must express itself in our love for the poor and that our love for the poor must be rooted in our love for God.
2. In debates about our responsibility to the poor, it seems to me that our nation and our church are bitterly divided. The perception generally is that life in the womb is the domain of the political right and that social concern is the domain of the political left. One side claims that all our efforts should go in protecting life in the womb whereas the other side claims that the government has an undeniable role in protecting the hungry and the poor. Today, in this church perhaps there are both these shades of opinions. If God is truly present in this church – does it matter to God which half is blue and which half is red? As far as God is concerned, the most vulnerable in the womb and outside the womb are equally important. God makes a preferential option for the poor no matter where the human person is placed. To ignore our responsibility toward either of these groups of people would be to ignore the love command. We who love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind, may our politics be informed by our faith and not our faith by our politics. Together, as followers of Christ, may our focus be on all those who need our care.
3. God provides a rather enlightening logic for the demand for the preferential option for the poor. Let me give you an example. At the priest convocation last Thursday, Jim Rigg, the new superintendent of Catholic Schools, in answer to a question about Catholic schools and immigrants said that a hundred years ago Catholic schools were founded by immigrants from various nations and cultures in order to take care of the educational needs of the immigrant populations. These immigrants faced problems but the Catholic schools accommodated them all. Today, Catholic schools should be able to cater to the needs of today’s immigrants, sometimes, whom we treat with contempt. Hear then, what God says to us in today’s first reading:"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.” We must protect the poor because none of us can claim to be rich in God’s presence. We must be compassionate because we ourselves stand in need of God’s compassion. We must love our neighbor as ourselves because the God we worship loves us unconditionally and without limits.
Very soon we will bring bread and wine to the altar. This bread and wine can be symbolic not only of our desire to be grateful to God but also all the people in the world who need God’s preferential care. God gives us the responsibility placing a circle of protection over them. May our presence at the altar make our love for God sincere and the love for the poor and the weak a genuine expression of our love for God. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph