26th Sunday of the Year
Migrant and Refugee Sunday
It seems that even in the wilderness, the people fleeing slavery for a land that is unknown, there is a call for Moses and the people to share power and curb their desire for excess that only results in division. The Psalmist declares that God’s laws guide the people in ways that mirror God’s justice towards them. In the gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to align themselves with his most vulnerable followers and make extreme choices to ensure communal well-being. It is often said that what one sees depends on where one stands whether it be colonised, occupied, outcasts in society, poor or among the powerful. It also depends on remembering what we have experienced, who we are and where we want to be as humans. Often texts of people who have been oppressed or dominated become texts of domination when used by powerful interests or when oppressed people forget that it was in their vulnerability, not their strength, that God was near them.
James exhorts us to identify with the poor and vulnerable among us and beyond. When we foster relationships of dignity and equality among people, God’s reign breaks in. Mark today echoes Numbers in sharing power widely and removing what endangers community well-being. Jesus warns his disciples to care about how they treat the ‘little ones’ among them, beginning with children.
Pope Francis in Timor Leste recently said, ‘How wonderful that here in Timor-Leste there are so many children: you are a young country and we can see every corner of your land teeming with life.’ He stressed that this is both a great gift but a reminder of the importance of ‘making space for children, for the little ones, welcoming them, taking care of them.’ One cannot say that Jesus simply loved children and thus spoke in their defense, or whether he stood in solidarity with all at the bottom of their social structures and pushed to the edges or margins of his society. Clearly, children were the foremost among these. If this is the case, then everyone who structures society that pushes some people to the bottom or edges is being warned. It includes those who make life even more difficult for those on the bottom or edges once they have been pushed there. Mark today, in a word, stresses hospitality where anyone - whether within or outside the faith community - extending hospitality will be rewarded. And we have a responsibility to welcome and care for all people - even those outside our faith and social communities. It is a matter of sensing connection or oneness with others
Pope Francis seems to share a comprehensive culture of dialogue Thomas Merton outlines in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: “The more I am able to affirm others, to say ‘Yes’ to them in myself, by discovering them in myself and myself in them, the more real I am. I am fully real if my own heart says ‘Yes’ to everyone. I will be a better Catholic, not if I can refute every shade of Protestantism, but if I can affirm the truth in it and still go further. So, too, with the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, etc. This does not mean syncretism, indifferentism, the vapid and careless friendliness that accepts everything by thinking nothing … If I affirm myself by denying all that is Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., in the end I will find that there is not much left for me to affirm as a Catholic and certainly no breath of the Spirit with which to affirm it.”
God is present and acting through unlikely people. It is clear in the first reading and in the gospel. Our challenge is to be open to this grace and presence in community and each other, especially the poor, and receive the gifts they have to offer. Too often we try to ensure that those who are with us also look like us, speak like us, and think like us. Questions can be silenced rather than embraced whether from other faith groups, women’s groups, justice groups or LGBTIQA+ people. We can miss so much of God’s presence through these others whether it is the stranger, women, children, First Nations people, and people is questionable places. Transformation is possible when space is made within us for questions and suggestions from others. This is not possible in communities that are exclusive, condemnatory, and rigid.
Moses and Jesus direct us beyond petty turf wars towards a spirit of cooperation with people who do things differently. We must be prepared to hear something different, to hear the Spirit crying from the edges of the church and society – from young people, Indigenous people, women, gay people, the poor, the refugee person, Moslems and Jews. Even the presence of these groups, and their experiences, powerfully proclaim God’s word about justice. It means listening to people who experience injustice, trying to see things from point of view, asking them what they believe need to have done, and what they are already doing for themselves. Our behaviour must not impede our ability to listen to the cry for mercy, for justice, for peace.
In the Book of Numbers, Joshua in his hierarchical way scandalised that two community members prophesied (Nm 11:26) without having the Spirit as did other Elders. Well, they were not ordained!! Amid calls for them to cease, Moses was clear in his response, ‘Would that all the people of God were prophets! Would that the Spirit be bestowed on them all!’ Moses’ response needs to be ours today. It has been Pope Francis’ response even if limited in some ways. It derives from our Baptism. No person or group enjoys a monopoly on the Spirit. God’s Spirit is upon everyone – children, women, and men. This is the gospel calling! In Mark’s Gospel, and in Numbers, a scandal was brewing among the disciples because outsiders were casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Like Moses, Jesus responded, ‘For whoever is not against us is for us.’ (Mk 9:40). We are reminded that we have received a share of God’s prophetic spirit. It is given freely. It is not limited to certain people especially those thought they were chosen to receive such a gift. It is a gift of status but of prophecy, of speaking out about injustice today. It calls us to speak truth to power, to be open to others who also speak truth to power, who also sit with the ‘other.’ We cannot settle for being ‘reasonable’ Christians. Jesus came to disturb us and show us there can be no compromise with injustice. If we are truly to follow him, we say ‘I’ll stand injustice no longer’ [E.M. Forster, Howard’s End]. As the Season of Creation is coming to a close, we still face serious threats to Creation. Moses’ response must be ours today as the Spirit has been poured out on all, we are called to be prophets of creation. The prophetic voices of women and children continue to be muffled and misinterpreted which only leads to great division and destruction.
When James addresses the social injustices existing in the early Christian world, condemning those who act unjustly and abuse their power, his words apply today to corporations that inflict pain on, and crucify the earth and its people. These are arms manufacturers, mining companies, logging companies, pharmaceutical companies, and corporations that do not pay fair wages to workers. James provides a window into prophetic consciousness and action. Would that the prophetic spirit be stirred up in the lives of all people so justice can take lasting root to end all forms of oppression.
Jesus did not divide people but tried to broaden the horizons and open the hearts of his disciples by encouraging them to look beyond the boundaries they impose on themselves and for him. Those who show hospitality to the needy understand the Reign of God. Such actions subvert systems based on exploitation of the weak. We need to look to ourselves and pray for the ability to respond in new ways to God’s call to follow and that following is recognising others on the journey who are not like us. Inhospitable and jealous behaviour is condemned.
The Lectionary situates this Gospel with the reading from James and also with the first reading from Numbers, which includes a condemnation against jealous behavior. All three texts together point to the power and importance of living in ways that honour ourselves and others and build welcoming communities where everyone can thrive.
Eternal Wisdom,
grant us the courage to reach across borders
so we form alliances with all people of goodwill.
Together, God
strengthen us to work
for the restoration of the whole of creation. Amen.