The readings we hear at Mass today call us to justice in different ways. Isaiah speaks to those who are visibly wounded and on the margins of life, as he proclaims: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened, be strong, fear not. ... The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared.” The letter of James is even more direct, speaking of the division between the rich and the poor in the Christian community of his day.
These words are just not directed to the Christians in the early Church; they still speak to us in our reality today. We can certainly learn from those who came before us. As I heard these readings, I thought about a documentary that I watched on the Public TV station on the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City. In March 1911, a fire started on this factory of garment workers. Due to unsafe working conditions in this high-rise building, with many exit doors locked and no sufficient fire escapes, 143 workers lost their lives. Most of these workers were Italian and Jewish immigrant women in their late teens and early twenties. Some of the workers were as young as 14 years old. When I was visiting my sister in Boston a couple of years ago, she wanted me to help her go through a box of old family photos. In that box, I came across photos of my grandmother from her days of working at a garment factory as a seamstress in Chicago. She was born in 1894 in Chicago to German immigrant parents. She started to work full-time as a seamstress after finishing the 7th grade, so she would have been working in a similar type of factory in downtown Chicago when that shirtwaist factory fire took place in New York in 1911. That fire had a large impact on the way society viewed working conditions in the United States in the early 20th century and child labor laws that allowed children and youth to work in order to try to support their families. There was also a big outcry from the public at that fire in New York, as the owners of the factory only got richer from the insurance proceeds they received and did not receive any jail time or have to pay any significant fines.
It is not an easy task looking at social justice in our society. When I traveled to Los Angeles a couple of times this summer for mission appeals, my sister who lives there warned me to be careful on public transportation, as there have been more attacks and shootings there.
Just as James and Isaiah had to bring up those matters of justice to the Catholic faithful in their day, so it is our responsibility as Catholics to not ignore these issues as well. Perhaps one of the reasons we do not want to look at our social problems is that it is easier to accept the status quo and to fear change, even though change is one of the great constants of life.
The famous Catholic author Flannery O’Connor addressed this in one of her letters: “All human nature vigorously resists (God’s) grace because (God’s) grace changes us and the change is painful.” We hear of a big change in the life of the deaf mute in today’s Gospel, as Jesus touched his ears and tongue, crying up to the heavens: ““Ephphatha!” “Be opened!” The deaf mute wanted change in his life, to be able to talk and hear. He wanted to be a part of his community in the fullest sense possible. Thankfully, the deaf mute was not on his own; his friends brought him to Jesus, encouraging him to be open to change and to Jesus’ healing touch. After this healing, his ears were not only opened to hear, but they were opened to the reality of Jesus in his life, to the reality of the salvation and redemption that Jesus freely offered him.
There are many things that drew me to the Catholic Church. The sense of community that I always felt being in the Church, the sense that all were welcome, the sense of us working as a community toward justice and the values of God’s kingdom here on earth were things that moved my heart each time I was present at Mass, each time I received the Eucharist. We are called to be true brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the spirit of James’ message of not being exclusive in our community of faith, of Jesus’ call of opening up the life of the deaf mute, I want to share with you a quote from the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds workshop that we had in our Diocese some years ago: “Authentic Catholics in the 21st century not only accept responsibility for their own faith journey; they also contribute to the journeys of others. They are unselfish in their efforts, charitable in their pursuits, and giving of their time.” Let us be open to the way our Lord is calling out to us today in his Holy Word, a call to be community and to practice justice, not only in our own journey of faith, but as we interact with the journeys of our brothers and sisters.
