From God’s Universalism to Human Universalism: Can you join the Project?
Isaiah, which means “God saves” or “God is Salvation,” proclaims what will happen at the dawn of the Messianic age: the restoration of social justice and therapeutic phenomena. In a word, there will be “shalom” – wholeness; all our “brokennesses” will be restored, because God will dwell amongst his people, bringing them Salvation.
The healing of a deaf and dumb man, in today’s gospel, manifests the dawning of the Messianic age – Jesus is the Messiah promised by God, and each miracle he performed was a confirmation by God that Jesus was and remains the messiah of humanity. Jesus’s peripatetics display the universality and universalism of God’s offer of salvation and wellness to all and sundry. In Jesus’s actions and speeches God shows himself the God of all people, with no regard to race, gender, ethnicity and social standing. Jesus not only make himself accessible to all people, but also, he seeks them out to offer them God’s salvation.
It is interesting the method Jesus uses in his healing today – saliva and earth. This is what we call a “theandric” action of God – God acting or healing using elements in creation. The therapeutic power of God can be unleashed through nature. No wonder the Fathers of the Church teach us that we know God through creation, scriptures and Christ.
In our world today, so many get their healing through our Justice/legal systems, hospitals, counseling centers and words of encouragement from friends, families and churches. Yes, Jesus still walks our streets and dwell in our institutions today through the activities of women and men of good will.
Because we often forget the indispensable roles and responsibilities we have to play in order to continue the Messianic age inaugurated by Jesus Christ, even the house of God – the Church – can become a place of discrimination. Our second reading from the letter of St. James makes this reality abundantly clear. That the human crave for wealth and status may lead to all kinds of dehumanizing speeches, actions and laws. According to James, even in the Church a poor man was dehumanized!
Indeed, God needs you and me to continue the messianic age of universalism of doctrines that promote Justice, equity and love. Yes, the world needs integral healing from all kinds of brokennesses, which will be realized only when I decide to be part of the solution instead of the problem. What is you decision – on whose side are you?
Faced with the problem of forced migration which plagues our times, pope Francis, after his angelus today, implores every catholic parish and institution, beginning with the Vatican, to take in, at least, one refugee family. What can you and I do, this week, to show that the messianic age is not over with?