Our first reading for this Sunday comes from Isaiah, where God promises to again favor his exiled people with “vindication” and “divine recompense.” The return of God’s presence will manifest with powerful signs—the blind will see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, and the lame leap. The land itself will also be restored: “streams will burst forth in the desert and rivers in the steppe.” Psalm 146 affirms the fact that God desires justice and the restoration of human flourishing; God “sustains” the fatherless and the widow, but “thwarts” the way of the wicked.
In today’s gospel, Jesus both fulfills these prophecies and reveals God’s heart toward his people, a heart which extends even beyond the borders of Israel. In our reading, Jesus is in the region of the Decapolis, a confederation of ten Hellenistic cities under the authority of the Roman empire. The mixed crowd of Jews and non-Jews marvel at Jesus’ healing of the deaf man and declare, “He has done all things well.” Through his miraculous works, the words of Isaiah are fulfilled: God has visited his people “to save [them].” In doing so, Jesus reveals the heart of his Father.
As Christ-followers, we are called to reflect this heart, but our efforts are often imperfect. In today’s second reading, James chides his readers for giving preferential treatment to the wealthy and powerful while shunning the poor and ill-dressed. Do they not know that God has deliberately chosen “those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom”?
Often we are tempted to align ourselves with the values of the world, where power and wealth are all. And yet, in the heavenly kingdom, Christ holds power far beyond any ruler or king, power that makes the deaf hear and the mute speak, that binds up broken things. All power and authority belong to Christ, and his heart is for the healing of the world. Let us pray that this will be our heart as well.
Reflection by Parishioner Kathryn Wilmotte