Identifying the image of God in humanity and seeking God’s will to keep this image sacred are challenges before us this weekend. Our dignity originates from God as the Prophet Isaiah declares, “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense, he comes to save you.” God comes to save us. God wills that humanity be made whole. At the end of the healing of the deaf man, the gospel says about Jesus, “They were exceedingly astonished, and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” That miracle puts before us the value of human dignity in its entirety. God does all things well for us.
What value does human dignity hold today? How is human dignity treated? James decries dichotomy and categorization, even in places of worship. Poor people are treated as having lesser values and sidelined because they only contribute minimally to society. Does poverty change the value of human life? In human terms, it appears so, but that's not correct. For instance, a poor person has greater worth than a criminal. So, why would we recognize someone who acquires wealth wrongly over a poor person? Why does society celebrate material wealth over integrity of life? This might be a bit complicated, but James admonishes Christians to shun attitudes that denigrate human dignity based on social class. Rather, we must encourage equity and fairness to reflect God’s image in us.
The healing of the deaf man in the gospel reinforces this narrative. Christ takes the deaf/dumb man off by himself away from the crowd, puts his finger in the man’s ears, spits, and touches his tongue. Christ looks up to heaven and groans, with a command to have his ears opened and his speech impediment removed. In this encounter, God engages humanity in his fullness. God steps into creation to sanctify it. He is not a distant God. God groans that humanity is incapacitated from radiating his glory and that the forces of evil shut our mouths and ears from declaring his glory.
In Luke’s gospel, we read that Jesus cast out a demon which made a mute man incapable of speaking. In that miracle episode, the people complained that Jesus was casting demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus rebuked them and said, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Lk. 11:20). This finger of God touches the deaf man in today’s gospel to show God’s unlimited powers. God intervenes in the affairs of men.
The encyclical Dives in Misericordia, of Pope St. John Paul 11 states, “Jesus revealed that love is present in the world in which we live - an effective love, a love that addresses itself to man and embraces everything that makes up his humanity. This love makes itself particularly noticed in contact with suffering, injustice, and poverty - in contact with the whole historical "human condition," which in various ways manifests man's limitation and frailty, both physical and moral. It is precisely the mode and sphere in which love manifests itself that in biblical language is called "mercy” (no. 3). Saint Thomas Aquinas suggested that mercy makes itself known through the healing or remedy of misery which he explained as any sort of defect in a person. Aquinas attributes driving out misery as God’s attribute. God does not just feel sad about human misery. He drives it out.
We see that in the miracles of Jesus. At the raising of Lazarus (Jn. 11:35-45). At the raising of the daughter of the Synagogue Official (Mk. 5:35-42). Jesus does not just groan at the misery imposed by this man's impediment of speech and the defect of hearing. He restores the man to his original condition; what today’s contemporary age will call the “original factory setting.” That factory setting is God’s image, our human dignity.
In most cases, we feel sad at the sight of people who suffer or those negatively impacted by life's circumstances. We feel sad at the impact of poverty in the world. We feel sad when we encounter those incapacitated by mental or physical conditions. We feel sad because of impediments beyond humanity's control. The challenge for us from this weekend’s scripture passages is to go beyond feeling sad. We must reach out to do something. Feeling sad is a natural emotional response, but seeking practical, Christian ways to help is a divine mandate of love. God wants us to contribute to restoring human dignity to their original status. God wants us to help to close gaps created by societal classification. God wants us to become like him, tools for opening channels of love and mercy.
Readings: 1st- Is. 35:4-7; 2nd- Jas 2:1-5; Gospel- Mk. 7:31-37
Comments