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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 – Nehemiah 8:2-4A, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm – Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Reading 2 – 1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Gospel – Luke 1:1-4
China 2008. A mother gives birth to baby girl. The baby has a severe cleft lip and palate. She’s so little and so fragile. She can’t create a suction because of her cleft, so feeding her is almost impossible. What is she supposed to do? We’ll get back to that in a minute.
The great challenge of today’s readings is about “fresh starts.” Why are the people crying in the first reading from Nehemiah? Well, the Jews had rebuilt the Temple and restored Jerusalem after the end of the Babylonian captivity. Ezra, the spiritual leader of the people, and before Nehemiah, the Governor appointed by Persia, read and interpreted God’s Law to the people. The people were crying tears of joy at this fresh start – this new beginning – for their people.
Back to China. Mom decides to leave the baby on the doorstep of a Buddhist convent. The Buddhist nuns find her on their doorstep with no information, no note, not even a date of birth. The nuns had the baby over to the Chinese authorities who approximate and assign her date of birth. They then place her with an orphanage. Now, there are many orphanages in China that range from just collecting a paycheck to extraordinary. By the grace of God, the baby finds her way to an extraordinary orphanage. The orphanage has a relationship with a U.S. nonprofit agency called Love Without Boundaries. They commit to helping this baby with lip surgery, but first she needs to get her weight up as she is severely malnourished. Let’s leave this story here for a now.
In the Gospel today, Jesus announces the beginning of his mission and ministry as he participates in the Sabbath Liturgy of the Word in the Synagogue in his native home in Nazareth. Then he says, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21). We’ll see how that story turns out next week, but Jesus is saying that his mission, which is similar to the mission given to Moses in Exodus, is to: 1) Bring glad tidings to the poor; 2) To proclaim liberty to captives; 3) To give recovery of sight to the blind; 4) To free the oppressed; and 5) to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord, which means the Jubilee Year, a time for forgiveness and restoration.
So Jesus sums up the sources of His: 1) power and authority; and 2) the nature of His freeing and saving ministry. What does that mean for us?
Back to China. The U.S. nonprofit organization places the baby with a foster family, especially trained to provide care to fragile children. The goal is to get her weight up so that her chances of a successful surgery improve. Her cleft prevents her from creating suction, so she cannot take a bottle. Her foster mother must hold and slowly feed her with a small spoon. Each feeding takes well over two hours. But will it work? Ok, getting back to today’s readings.
St. Paul tells us that as disciples of Jesus, we make up the body of Christ. He says, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer…”, (1 Cor 12:26). So we can’t ignore those around us. We are called to share in the freeing and saving mission of Jesus that we heard proclaimed in the Gospel according to Luke. This idea is rooted in our understanding of the creation story; of being created in the image and likeness of God. This is the key of Catholic Social Teaching.
Back to China. The foster mother is successful and the baby is able to her cleft lip repaired. Her cleft palate will have to wait until she is adopted. Will she find her forever family? Stay tuned…
We can’t turn a blind eye to those around us. Like St. Paul says, a foot cannot say I don’t belong to the body because I’m not like the hand or whatever, (1 Cor 12:15). If one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. And there is great suffering among us today. New York just passed new legislation that greatly expands abortion, removes protections for the unborn child even if injured while the mother is robbed or assaulted, and permits abortion through birth.
This tragedy is based on language that sounds very reasonable, but really is not logical. An example of this language is a woman should have the right to do what she wants with her body. I understand why this idea resonates with so many Americans. It has all the hallmarks of freedom and liberty. But of course, this argument is based on a gross error in logic. No one – no man and no woman – has the absolute right to do what they want with their bodies. That’s not how modern societies are structured
When I was in college, my philosophy 101 professor put it this way. She said too often we confuse ability for rights. She said, I have the ability to take a gun load it, point it at someone and pull the trigger. But, just because I have the ability to do that doesn’t mean that I have the right to do it. Society has the right to promote the common good and thus has the ability to restrict what a person can do with their body.
Here’s another example. Years ago a friend forwarded to me a video of a Dallas-area Southern Baptist preacher by the name of Matt Chandler. He put it this way. If you think you have the absolute right to do whatever you want with your body, get in your and drive naked down the highway at 95 miles an hour and let’s see what happens.
This idea about unrestricted abortion as a right focuses more on the individual at the expense of those around them, including the unborn. It pushes the “me first” mentality which is at the heart of our consumerist-drive lifestyles – a mentality that reaches far beyond the topic of abortion.
Back to China. The baby is brought to the conference room of a huge hotel. As she sits on the enormous conference room table, she plays catch with the director of her orphanage. She doesn’t know it, but part of her forever family walks into the room. Her new mother catches her toy and they both look at each other for a second and then they both burst out laughing. She climbs into her new mother’s lap and will hardly let go of her the rest of the trip. She found her forever family! Of course the baby I’m talking about is my daughter, Sofia. While official abortion statistics are considered by the Chinese as state secrets, in 2008, the year Sofia was born, there were an estimated 13 million abortions performed and approximately 10 million abortion pills sold in China. Thank God her biological mother didn’t abort her. With what we know of Chinese abortions, yes, it probably would have been no problem. But abortion would have robed our family and everyone Sofia has touched with her beautiful smile and her huge heart. She graces the world with every bounding step she takes. Some might consider Sofia a choice. But to us, she is a brilliant gift that has totally and completely changed our family!
The challenge of our readings today is a fresh start – a new beginning. So now, in light of New York’s abortion law, we have the opportunity to begin again. Some people are so blind. Some people are held hostage – are oppressed – by a misguided philosophy based on absolute freedoms. Make no mistake, there are probably people all around us among our families and friends who support the New York law. We have a duty to reach out to them. How? We need to follow the example of Jesus. Look at the Gospel stories of the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. Jesus did not yell at them. He didn’t demand their excommunication. He didn’t thump the sacred scrolls. He talked to them directly, but he treated them with respect. He challenged them embrace the Truth of the God who loves them.
We must remember that we cannot force anyone to change their lives or their opinions. All we can do is share the Truth in a loving way that affirms their dignity. And we can pray that the Holy Spirit will nurture the seeds of Truth we plant so that they might have a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ; an encounter that leads to transformation; transformation that leads to their salvation.
Homework! Nourished by the Jesus Christ present in the Word proclaimed and in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect and try these exercises:
- What does it mean and what are the implications of the statement that we are all created in the image and likeness of God?
- This one might take the entire week to do, but reach out to your family and friends starting with those in close proximity to you. Hug them and as you do, say a prayer of Thanksgiving for the life of that person. You can also try this with family and friends who don’t live near you. You can reach out through various face-to-face apps on your cell phone or your computer. Call them up and as you briefly visit with them, say a prayer of Thanksgiving for the life of that person.
I think by doing our homework, we will be reminded not just about the dignity of the other person, but also about the great gifts God has blessed us with in the form of our family, friends, and neighbors. Do you got it? Good! May each of us come to know the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!
Further reading
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
356-384: In the Image of God
789-91: union in the body of Christ
805: The Church is the Body of Christ
1140: It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that celebrates.
2270-2275: Abortion
2322: The Fifth Commandment