Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 5, 2021 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Isa 35:4-7a; Jas 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37]My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges swith evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?"
I recently read a reminiscence by someone who was recalling a conversation with an old professor of his. The conversation was interrupted by a student with obvious concerns, which the professor addressed out of the hearing of the friend. When the professor returned to the conversation, the friend asked who the student might have been. The professor answered, "Oh, it was just Our Lord in one of his more unrecognizable forms." The second scripture for today, from the Letter of James, challenges us on the matter of "recognizing Jesus."
In the Gospel According to Matthew (25:31-45) there is that awesome scene of the Final Judgment with the statement by both the elect and the condemned, "Lord, when did we SEE you (hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned....)? The first scripture for today's liturgy is from Isaiah, speaking of the coming of God to help, and it says, "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared....." Does our faith enable us to "see" Jesus in the person who is poor and shows up unexpectedly at our door? In the Gospel According to Luke (16:19-31), the Rich Man fails to "see" Lazarus at his doorstep.
If we know from the scriptures that Jesus can and does come to us in "unrecognizable forms," we might want to ask why he might be "unrecognizable" to us? What is keeping us from "seeing" him? As we know from the scriptures, the answer to that question has ultimate consequences. AMEN