Word to the Wise
Monday, July 16, 2012 - Monday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Isa 1:10-17 and Matt 10:34-11:1]Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. [Isaiah]
Isaiah does not mince words. Worship without integrity and justice is worthless. The widow and the orphan were the most vulnerable people in the land and they were being ignored for elaborate sacrifices and observances! Isaiah denounces empty worship: "When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you. Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood!" Jesus echoes Isaiah when he speaks in the dramatic scene of the Last Judgment in the Gospel of Matthew, 25:31-45, "As often as you did it for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me." Can we celebrate Eucharist with integrity as long as injustice rules in the land?
In the U.S.A., we will be electing the highest public officials of our country. Are we more concerned about the people who are running for office, or are we most concerned about the people whom they will serve once elected? Where is the care for the "widow and orphan?" There are the unborn, the immigrant, the unemployed and the homeless - do we turn our backs to them on our way to church? The current ideological deadlock in Congress is lethal, but it reflects what is widespread in our land! Isaiah is sending us a wake-up call. Can we hear the phone? AMEN
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