My Sisters and Brothers:
Today, I believe there’s a clear connection between the lessons contained in the First Reading and the Gospel. The mandate placed upon God’s people and spoken by the Prophet Isaiah required definitive action on behalf of victims of oppression. In the verse just preceding those we heard today, he spoke of “releasing those bound unjustly,” and “untying the thongs of the yoke” (see Isaiah 58:6, and then verses 7-10). Jesus told his followers they were “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”; he told them they were “to shine before others” and “to make their good deeds known” (Matthew 5:13-16). To me, it seems both the actions described by Isaiah, and the visibility of good deeds called for by Jesus, involved similar obligations. They placed upon all Godly people the responsibility of service and advocacy on behalf of others, especially for those who were afflicted and most in need.
Isaiah’s audience would have understood his agricultural imagery framing the mandate he gave; they knew some unscrupulous owners of livestock would brutally overburden and abuse their animals. Such owners would place harsh and lumbering yokes over the shoulders of camels, donkeys, horses, and/or oxen and they would brutally force them to pull impossibly heavy loads. Under such strain, the animals would then be deprived of nutrition and hydration, and would be denied sufficient relief from their great weariness; all the while, they would be brutally beaten with whips and cursed by their owners, as they were forced to labor to the point of exhaustion, barbarous treatment that sometimes even caused death. Isaiah’s audience knew such “beasts of burden” endured lives of complete misery, and so when he compared such animals to those human beings who had been victimized through the oppressive and malicious actions of others, they “got it.”
As we reflect on these words of Isaiah, I believe it’s a good idea to contemplate the types of victimization and oppression that some people during his time may have endured. There were those who suffered amidst the brutality of wars and insurrections, there were refugees who had come from distant lands who were not welcome and who were put down because they were “strangers,” there were people subjugated under the thumbs of ruthless land owners and who were treated as slaves, many were deprived of economic advantages controlled by and benefitting only the “privileged classes,” there were those who endured persecutions and discrimination because of their cultural and religious identities, many were marginalized because they were “different,” or because they were inflicted with various types of diseases and/or disabilities (such as leprosy, blindness, and other noticeable handicaps), many widows and orphans were left to fend for themselves and often lived in squalor as beggars and paupers. Some people judged to be “undesirables” and/or as “sinners,” were completely ostracized, or they were cruelly put to death simply because of who they were. And no doubt, there were many other types of men and women subjected to all kinds of abuse, maltreatment, condemnations, and verbal assaults by the unscrupulous and “the powerful.” Such people were victimized and oppressed, and if they were lucky enough, were completely dependent on the mercy of the righteous and the good-hearted simply to survive. These same types of injustices also existed in Jesus’ time. And unfortunately, isn’t it true many of these same types of victimizations and oppressions are the scourge of our own time as well?
I believe the mandate spoken by the Prophet Isaiah is clearly connected to the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel. He said: “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds.” This is what we are called to do, and it has everything to do with Isaiah’s image of “releasing those bound unjustly,” and of “untying the thongs of the yoke.” As God’s people, we are called to definitive action on behalf of those of our own time who are victims of injustice and oppression (and we don’t have to look too far to find such people). This doesn’t simply mean giving “kind handouts” to “the needy”; it’s far more profound than that! Let’s therefore “remove from our midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; let’s bestow our bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted.” My friends, this is exactly how we will “glorify our heavenly Father,” and for Christians, I believe “this is what it’s all about.”
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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