September 8, 2024
Lectionary Readings: Is 35:4-7; Ps 146: 7,8-9,9-10; Jas 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37
Theme: Discipleship, Disability and the Paradigm of Jesus
Discipleship is a deeply personal commitment to model one’s life according to the pattern exemplified by another. This pattern may be perceived not only from their preaching and teaching but more particularly from the actions and deeds they perform consistently. In the gospel of this Sunday, the evangelist focuses the attention of his Gentile audience principally on the actions of Jesus. The writer shows that while Jesus enjoins those around him to keep the healing miracles secret, it is precisely such deeds that begin to reveal his messianic identity. The audience is meant to learn who Jesus is from what he does. They are to believe in him and to pattern themselves according to all that he exemplifies by his generous and transformative actions.
The healing actions of Jesus took place within a sociocultural milieu characterized by mixed approaches to illness and disability. While these realities were sometimes attributed to personal or intergenerational sin, several scholars maintain that the Jewish theological tradition makes no such implicit connection (Levine, xvii; Jones, 122 & 138). Rather, emphasis was placed on the fundamental responsibility to meet people’s needs (Levine, xvii; Jones, 131). Other scholars point out that the prohibitions of the Torah concerning persons with disabilities (Lev 19:14) did not only forbid people from doing harm to persons who are in any way vulnerable; but they also made it imperative for all members of the community to be proactive in preventing harm from coming to them (Greene, 15). It was a direct way of putting into action the Levitical commandment “to love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Lev 19:9-18).
As Jesus demonstrates in the gospel of this week, the focus must always be on the person and what he or she wants for himself or herself. In this story, it seems that the person who is deaf wanted to be brought to Jesus. Throughout the gospels Jesus demonstrates a fundamental respect for the wishes and agency of vulnerable persons who seek him out either directly or through friends and relatives. His approach to the healing of persons who are disabled does not originate from a stifling pity, but from a sense of solidarity with those for whom there might be unbearable suffering, either physically or emotionally, through pain, isolation, or other hardships. It is also explained by a shared sense of vulnerability. To be truly human is to be vulnerable, albeit in different ways (Reynolds, 41). Jesus’ person-centered approach, rooted in vulnerable communion, provides the paradigm for the authentic practice of Christian discipleship based on humility, solidarity and friendship.
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. How does the awareness of your own vulnerability dispose you towards interdependence and solidarity with others, and greater dependence upon God? 2. What more can your community do to provide for the full participation of persons with disabilities?
Bibliography: Greene, “Jewish Theological Approaches to the Human Experience of Disability,” in Jewish Perspectives on Theology and the Human Experience of Disability, ed. Abrams and Gaventa (New York, 2006), 9-25; Jones, “Judaism, Theology and the Human Rights of People with Disabilities,” in Jewish Perspectives in Theology, ed. Abrams and Gaventa (New York, 2006), 101-45. Levine, Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus (Nashville, 2022). Reynolds, “Theology and Disability: Changing the Conversation,” Journal of Religion, Disability & Health, vol. 16, no. 1 (2012): 33-48.
This week’s Sunday Liturgy Commentary was prepared by
Carla Thomas, Trinidad and Tobago/Canada, Bat Kol Alumna: 2018
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