OUTCAST
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C – is, “Outcast!”
In today’s first reading from 2nd Kings and today’s gospel from Luke, we heard about people with leprosy. When these stories took place – the first reading from around 850 years B.C. – and today’s Gospel, just after Jesus’ time, those with serious skin lesions or skin problems could be labeled as having “leprosy” and then by law they could be cast out of their family and local community.
In this homily I’d like to reflect upon being an outcast in our times. What’s it like today to experience being an outcast? I’m going to preach mainly on the reality of feeling like an outcast – more than leprosy itself – even though I noticed that someone said there are 30 million people in the world today who are affected by this disease.
For starters when these readings come up about people with leprosy, I like to point out that the United Nations and various other world organizations, have come out with resolutions and proclamations at various times that we do not use the word “leper”. Here it is in today’s gospel and I deliberately changed it – and have been doing this for about 25 years now – ever since I read these declarations.
For example, on August 2nd, 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Advisory Committee said that the word “leper” is discriminative – and can lead to discrimination against those affected by this disease.
On October 30, 1997, United States President Bill Clinton while in office sent a message for the Opening of the U.N. Quest for Dignity Exhibit saying, “An important step in our efforts to ensure that all individuals are treated equals is to permanently strike the hurtful word ‘leper’ from our vocabulary.”
Francisco A.V. Nunes of Bacurau, Brazil, who had this disease, writes, “To many of us worse than the very disease is the prejudice that comes along with it. Many of us stopped being called Francisco, Joe, Maria, and we started being called leprosy patients, ‘lepers’ and recently Hansenites ….” Hansen’s Disease comes from Dr. Hansen who isolated the cause of this disease. Francisco goes on, “I believe that our greatest challenge is to make sure that millions of people who have lost their identities will go back to being called by their own name.”
I think the word “leper” as a general term for an outcast has decreased. And I think all of us can become more sensitive to calling people by their name – instead of seeing people as numbers or “mental patients,” “nuts,” “cancer patients,” etc.
I think as Christians, hopefully, we all can be sensitive and caring to those who come into our presence – especially those who might have feelings of not being welcome. There are people who feel like outcasts – who feel rejected, ignored, dismissed or expelled.
As Christians hopefully we do our best to welcome those who feel unwelcome – who feel like a nameless nobody – or labeled by a sickness or disease.
EVANGELIZATION
Yesterday morning Steve Beard and I, as well as Father Fabio Marin and William Arias who do Latino ministry here at St. Mary’s went to a morning on Evangelization up in St. Gabriel’s Parish in Woodlawn. There were over 200 people present from many, many parishes, and a similar program took place at Frederick last week for the western part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The big question was: Why?
Why are we doing what we are doing as Church – as Catholics – as Christians?
A question addressed that hit me was: “Do we reach out for the 2/3 of Catholics who don’t come to church or the 1/3 who do come to church?”
Do you feel welcome here at St. Mary’s?
I hope so.
I keep hearing that there are 15,000 registered people in this parish. Why do 10,000 in the parish not come to worship on the Sabbath? Why do the 5000 come?
When I read today’s gospel and today’s first reading in the light of the conference we attended yesterday, various thoughts and questions hit me.
Do some people who don’t come feel like outcasts? Do they feel like the Catholic Church, specifically St. Mary’s, or some priest or some experience caused them to feel rejected or hurt?
How do those who are divorced – or who have been in prison – or had an abortion – or are bankrupt – feel about coming into this church? What about those who are gay or lesbian?
Yesterday I heard the question about those who are handicapped – those in wheelchairs – those who are deaf – etc. etc. etc.?
This is the year of The Gospel of Luke and it seems that Luke has very warm and welcoming criteria for coming home and into our Church. The Prodigal Son is hugged and kissed and celebrated – even though he needed a shower big time – even though he messed up big time – even though he ruined the family name. Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners.
When we were taught New Testament, we were told to read the gospels in light of not Jesus’ time, but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s communities many years later – the situations taking place in those communities.
That was an eye-opener – till I realized that’s what we are called to do every Sunday.
We come here to have Jesus feed us, challenge us, heal us, and be in communion with us. We come here to welcome and be welcomed by Jesus and each other.
OURSELVES – AS OPPOSED TO OTHERS
To be practical I would think the issue is to focus on the individual person in the pulpit and the individual person in the pew – a person with a name and a pronoun – namely me, myself and I – you, yourself and you.
How do I score on a scale of 1 to 10 as being a welcoming person – 10 being the highest?
I think by asking and answering that ourselves – as opposed to the whole parish – we would be challenged better.
If I asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10, do you see St. Mary’s as a welcoming parish?” I would assume that most would say, “It all depends.”
It all depends on whom we’re talking about?
But if we put the question directly to ourselves, then we might make this a better parish and world.
How do I treat, see, judge, consider, look at, those who are I think are lazy, overweight, old, young, sick, noisy, won’t move into the bench, won’t park right, don’t dress right?
How do I see, understand, know, those who are poor, those who are Moslem, those who look different than I look, those who are liberal, conservative, independent, unknown?
WWJD
A bunch of years back there were lots of folks wearing those WWJD bracelets or t-shirts. Some praised them; some po poed them.
If you like the idea or reject the idea, if you make fun of the idea or don’t get the idea of asking, “What Would Jesus Do?”, the challenge is still there every day to be Christ to our world.
Let’s narrow that challenge down. The challenge is that today or this week we might be the only person that another will meet Christ in or a Catholic Christian in. It’s me!
We can have the amazing healing power of Jesus by simply sitting with the stranger or the person who feels strange.
We can be the person who welcomes another and 1 out of 10 might come back and say, “Thank you!”
And then they feel part of the human family – and maybe then they will show themselves to their priest, rabbi, or minister or religious leader.
I know I have made it one of my goals in life to say hello to everyone – in elevators, planes, airports, on line, behind the counter, or what have you. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s a disaster moment – and I feel stupid. I think that’s the price one pays to be a follower of Christ.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Outcast!”
In this homily I’m saying that today, this week, we might be the only Gospel, the only Good News, someone will hear.
Yesterday I heard that the goal is not to get people come to church – but to come to church and then leave church and make this a better world.
That’s why the Father sent the Son into the world.
That’s why Jesus said, “I’m calling you to go into this world and to love one another as I have loved you.”
This is tough – difficult – a challenge – a dying to self.
I’m not really sure how to end this homily, so let me close with the end of today’s second reading. Scholars think it’s part of an early Christian hymn.
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him.
If we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we remain faithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
