We are in the First Week of Advent in the Jubilee Year of Hope, and today’s readings point us forward toward the beauty and promise of the Incarnation. The Responsorial Psalm sets the tone, “The Lord is my light and salvation.”
Isaiah offers us a panorama of hope, a time of Messianic peace and wholeness, where the blind see, the deaf hear, and the meek and poor rejoice. Today’s Gospel reveals the wholeness of the Kingdom, as Jesus cures two men of their blindness.
The Kingdom which Jesus prefigured and announced was to manifest God’s absolute love and tenderness for all of creation. The poor, the widow, the orphans, the refugees, those suffering from disease, and the outcasts were to be welcomed, embraced, and loved.
In October, Pope Leo finished an apostolic exhortation which was begun by Pope Francis before his death, Dilexi te. This 60-page document presents theological and historical evidence to demonstrate the centrality of God’s demand that it is incumbent upon his daughters and sons to show loving and effective care for those on the margins of society.
Beginning with the Hebrew Scriptures, the teachings of Jesus, the Church Fathers, the establishment of religious congregations for women and men with a singular focus on ministering to the marginalized in education and healthcare, and the teachings of popes, especially in the modern era, God has chosen the poor as his own.
The document makes it abundantly clear that loving and caring for the poor, the refugee, those on the periphery, is not an option for a follower of Jesus. It is the “sine qua non” of who we are. Cutting aid to the poor, demonizing all refugees, and making health care less available to those on the edges of society are not what we are to be about.
Let Us Pray:
Creator God, we have begun our annual Advent journey in preparation to celebrate the birth of our Savior in a stable in Bethlehem. Your Son Jesus spent his ministry with a focus on the poor, the sick, the blind, the lame, and the deaf, those alienated from society. You made it clear that they have a unique relationship with you. Send us an abundance of grace that we, too, might see those on the periphery as our focus of love and care. Amen.
