Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Isa 58:7-10; 1 Cor 2:1-5; Matt 5:13-16]Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn......[Isaiah]
One of the most respected public figures in the world, both during her lifetime and after, is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her fame rested on the simple fact that she did exactly what Isaiah challenged the Jewish community in exile to do! She served the most abjectly poor and homeless on the streets of Calcutta. In short, her "light" was visible not only to those whom she and her companions [the Missionaries of Charity] served, but also to the world. I have met a number of people who went to India for the privilege of working with her.
Another figure, perhaps a bit less known, was Archbishop Helder Camara of Recife, Brazil, who not only served the poor but asked WHY they were poor, which is a different way of bringing light, i.e. to shine light on the causes of great social problems. This form of light can attract the forces of darkness! Archbishop Camara was famous for saying, "When I feed the hungry, I am called a saint. When I ask why they are hungry, I am called a communist!" In our own country, that is what many people called Dorothy Day!
Last but not least, Pope Francis was known for his work in the poorest sections of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was the archbishop before his election as pope. In his recent document, "The Joy of the Gospel," Pope Francis challenges all baptized Christians to be "missionary evangelizers." I call attention to these figures simply to illustrate that Isaiah's challenge [echoed in Matthew 25 - the "final judgment scene] is the foundation for the most eloquent kind of preaching. The pulpit may be a soup kitchen or a food or clothing bank or a neighborhood free clinic. This kind of eloquence will not take place inside a "gated community" where the poor are kept at "gate's length." The most welcome sermon in Isaiah's challenge may be "Come and get it!"
Whether we preach by voice or by pen or by cooking pot, Isaiah's challenge is Jesus' challenge too. As often as we are compassionate to the least of our brethren, we are compassionate to him! AMEN