Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-10; 1Cor 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-21
Rebuilding ourselves into a model society for the world
My dear friends,
Sometimes, speaking out on issues of social justice can come at a personal cost. This has been the case for Mariann Budde who delivered a striking homily in Washington DC in the presence of the newly inaugurated American President. The Episcopalian bishop pleaded for mercy, compassion and respect for the marginalized communities. Her words, grounded in Christian teachings of love and justice, were a clarion call to those in power to govern with humility and empathy. She says -in part- and I quote: “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honour the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.”
While many have rallied around her, there is also a growing backlash against her.
The attacks on a bishop or even the Pope for upholding the Gospel’s call for mercy highlights a deepening chasm even among Christians as questions about the role of faith in politics become ever more contentious.
The Word of God this Sunday makes a serious case for the cost of authenticity and moral courage. It is our commitment to walk the path of suffering and empathy with the powerless and the vulnerable that configures us to the Servant Jesus. In the face of the conflation of the Gospel with partisan politics, Christians today are challenged to authentically embody the God of justice, mercy and compassion.
In the first reading, we heard the moving account of the gathering of people in front of the ruined temple in Jerusalem. Ezra the priest gathered them there to pray and to discern their way forward after they had returned home from a long and harrowing exile. They were battered, perplexed and demoralised. He had the Torah read out to them and interpreted its meaning for them. He summoned their courage, strengthened their faith and rekindled their hope in the God of faithfulness and love. He challenged them to fulfill their destiny as God’s chosen people.
Whether it was Egypt or the land of promise, whether it was the exile or the homeward return, God’s purpose was to sanctify them, to make them into a people worthy of his image. Ezra managed to instill new confidence into a very shaken people: “Today is holy to our Lord”, he said, “Do not be sad and do not weep; for the joy of the Lord is our strength”. God’s people, humbled and cleansed by the exile are summoned to rebuild themselves into a model society -one in which the care of the most marginalised was to be the essential distinguishing feature. Only then would they be fulfilling their destiny.
This is a sobering and poignant lesson for the Church. We have much to learn from our ancestors in faith. In the spirit of humility and repentance, we need to relearn how to be the sacrament of God’s compassion and care for the powerless. We need to enact that same rallying call to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim freedom to captives and comfort all those who mourn.
This is the Church that Jesus, too, wants of us. The Gospel presents us with a decisive challenge. Jesus puts to his disciples an alternative vision of life, which is polar opposite to what the dominant imperial system has to offer. His mission was aligned with God’s compassion for the vulnerable, including the blind, the deaf, the captive and the downtrodden. He was sent to bring outsiders inside God’s circle of love. Jesus’ subversive message and style would continue to be characterised by radical embrace of the poor and equally radical challenge to the privileged.
My dear friends,
Like Jesus, today is also the day we commit ourselves to our personal manifesto, that is, our fundamental purpose and mission in life. We may have different roles to play, as St Paul tells us in the second reading, but we are all united in one purpose and mission: to build up the body of Christ and to make the presence and love of God more and more deeply felt in our lives. We are called to be channels of God’s mercy, to open our hearts to those living on the outmost fringes of society, to heal their hurt and brokenness.
Today, we celebrate Australia Day. Indeed, we have much to celebrate and give thanks to God. God’s Word today causes us to reflect on our role in bringing about a more just society, especially for our First Nations people. Today should bring us together in the spirit of humility and reconciliation. As Christian Australians, we can both celebrate the good things we love about our nation, as well as recognise the wounds that need to be healed in the land and its people.
Like the returned exiles, let us re-dedicate ourselves to be the body of Christ and conduit of mercy, the sign of hope and the voice of conscience for our society.
