"I have made you a light to the Gentiles"
Sunday Mass Readings
On my visit to India two summers back I had an experience I will never forget. When I landed at the Bombay airport, there was news that a security personnel had gone on a shooting rampage. He was of course overpowered and being questioned. My first question to my brother was, “Is he a Muslim?” Since the attack on the world trade centre it not uncommon to look at Muslims with suspicion. The moment I asked the question it had struck me how prejudiced my question was. Later than evening my brother’s family and I took a train to my hometown. When I used the toilet in the train I left my wallet in there. After an hour I realized that my wallet was missing. All my credit cards, my driving license, social security card and one thousand dollars in cash were in there. I ran to the toilet only to find that someone had taken it. I was frantic. Meanwhile, I realized that a man about fifty years old was looking intently at my desperation. He asked me what was wrong. I told him I had lost my wallet. He asked me a few questions and then he very kindly took the wallet out of his pocket and handed it to me. He had gone into the toilet after me and found the wallet but did not know whose it was. He was on the lookout for a frantic man so he could return to the owner. I checked the wallet. Not a thing was missing. I thanked him profusely. It was as if God was teaching me a lesson. This sincere and good man happened to be a Muslim. The Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament are very universal in their approach. Often and many times, non-Jewish people are set up as witness of faith and goodness. For example, in the Old Testament Naman the Syrian was healed of his leprosy because of his faith. Of all the people, during the famine the prophet Elisha was sent to the foreigner widow. In the New Testament, Jesus often ministered to people other than the Jews. And in speaking to the Samaritan woman and in setting up the Good Samaritan as a model of Christian love, Jesus tried to bridge the division that existed between people.
As today’s first reading indicates, however, divisions continued to exist in the early Christian community. The Jewish-Gentile divide threatened to endanger the life of the early Christian community. Paul and Barnabas’ challenge was to take the focus off the divide and turn people’s attention on the gospel that unites all people. But there were some Jews who refused to find unity in the gospel. The prospect of sharing faith with the gentiles frightened them. But as the Lord said to Paul, “I have made you a light to the Gentiles that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Let me offer three practical implications:
1.In this community here at Immaculate Conception we are experiencing similar divisions. Just in the last seven years that I have been here, this neighbourhood has changed. This community has become a more diverse community. Our school population has become ethnically diverse. And, honestly, there are some who are afraid. What does it mean when a sixth grader says in class, “Let us keep it all white”? Where is this student getting such prejudice from? Parents? Neighborhood?
We need to be reminded of this sentence from today’s second reading from the book of revelation. In John’s vision, he saw “a great multitude… from every nation, race, people and tongue…” standing before God’s throne in worship. I surely think that heaven will hold a few surprises for some of us.
2.There is a sentence in the second reading that is particularly touching. It reads, “For the Lamb who is in the centre of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” My dear friends, except on a very superficial level, there is something that binds us altogether – our humanity. We all cry, we all laugh, we all are frightened sometimes, and we will all die one day. More importantly, one day we will all stand before God. If God must wipe our tears immaterial of “nation, race, people and tongue,” then we must begin that task here in earth. Instead of becoming xenophobic people, let us wipe each other’s tears. It is beautiful to bear each other’s burdens, carry each other’s load rejecting the superficial differences and recognising our common destiny. Let us discover our humanity in wiping each other’s tears. Paradoxically, if we truly discover our humanity we will also discover our divinity.
3.In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” These three verbs, “Hear, Know and Follow” imply a deep relationship. We are those who have heard his voice. We belong to Christ. We follow him. Our relationship with Christ should motivate us toward our mission. Our mission is to bring those who do not belong to Christ to the fold. We cannot accomplish this by rejection of people. The only way we will accomplish this is through openness and acceptance. Let us strive to become a community of Love. Let this altar be the place where people of every nation, race, people and tongue will worship the Lord.
In a few moments, we will receive our Good Shepherd in communion. Let us commit ourselves to him and to his mission. Amen.