God is Good, even when His servants aren’t (readings for Sept. 9, 2018)

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

What these passages tell us not to do

Commentary

Hyperlink

Reading 1 IS 35:4-7A

Thus says the LORD: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Responsorial Psalm PS 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The LORD gives sight to the blind; the LORD raises up those who were bowed down. The LORD loves the just; the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations.  Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

Reading 2 JAS 2:1-5

My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faithin our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man 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 with 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?

Alleluia CF. MT 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.  And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 

He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.  They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.  He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

1.   Every one of today’s readings detail God’s great goodness. That is the predominate theme today.

2.   Today’s principal readings were written at or about times when those leading God’s people were not good. The sorry state of leadership in Isaiah’s time is well described in Isaiah 1:10-28. The corruption of the religious leaders during Jesus’ incarnation is a noted throughout the gospels.

3.   Those deep flaws did not change the good that God worked then and do not change God’s fundamental goodness today. Think back on the times you experienced that goodness. Those things happened even while some of God’s clergy were committing or covering up the terrible acts we have heard so much about. 

4.    We should stay focused on that fundamental goodness even as we work through how to deal with those terrible things.

5.    How do we do that, how do we remain focused on God’s goodness during these difficult times? Several things come to mind:

A.   As the first reading tells us “[b]e strong, fear not.” God delivered His people from previous times of dysfunction, He will do it again. DO NOT GIVE UP ON GOD BECAUSE OF SOME LEADERS’ CORRUPTION. Isaiah didn’t and the folks described in today’s gospel didn’t. We shouldn’t either.

B.    As today’s psalm tells us, praise the good things God does. There are multitudes of them.  Praising God for them, especially on specific manifestations of His goodness, will give you peace.

C.    Focus on God himself. Bring your concerns and needs directly to Him, just as the folks in today’s gospel brought the deaf/mute man directly to Jesus. Prayer and the scriptures are always available to us, and adoration and the mass usually are too.

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D.   Intentionally seek to be instruments of God’s goodness.  The folks described in today’s gospel provide great examples: they sought to make God’s goodness available by what they themselves could do.  We can do the same thing by doubling down on corporal and spiritual acts of mercy. Those acts may not directly address the harm some corrupt leaders have done, but they will help manifest God’s overwhelming goodness in other ways.