February 24, 2019 - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

"She is Someone's Baby Girl"

Audio Clip

There, but for the grace of God, go I --- or my children.  We're all familiar with the phrase. It's something many of us think to ourselves when we hear that a good friend is facing a significant challenge, maybe   physical or mental illness or perhaps, their child is struggling with an addiction. The phrase is a reminder of how fragile our human condition can be, and how fortune can turn against us to create circumstances which we never thought were possible.  But, even in the struggle, the beauty of God's love can present itself --- and sometimes, all it takes is one compassionate soul to get things started.

Just one compassionate soul --- someone who is determined to do something to relieve someone's pain, rather than succumb to the temptation to measure their misery or sinfulness.   One sympathetic soul, like the one I'd like to share with you in this story --- 

It was one of the most extraordinary birthday parties ever.  It was held at 3 am in a small café, the guest of honor was a prostitute, the fellow guests were prostitutes and the man who threw it was a Christian minister. 

The idea came to him as he sat in the cafe, drinking coffee, and he over-heard a conversation which a group of working-girls were sharing.  One of the girls, Agnes, offered that not only was it her birthday the next day, but that she'd never had a birthday party.

The minister thought it would be a great idea to surprise her with a celebration, so he presented a plan to the café owner who knew the girls came in every morning at 3:30 am.  The men agreed to set the place up for a party. Word somehow got out on the street, so that by 3:15 the next morning, the place was packed with prostitutes, the minister, the café owner and his wife.

When Agnes walked in and saw streamers, balloons, the café owner holding a birthday cake, and everyone screaming out "Happy Birthday!"  she was overwhelmed and tears poured down her face. When the café owner called on her to cut the cake, she paused, and said she'd never had a birthday cake before and wondered if she could take it home to show her mother.  When Agnes left there was stunned silence. The minister did what he knew he should do --- he led the café owner, his wife and the roomful of prostitutes in a prayer for Agnes.

In today's Gospel, we are shown a glimpse of how important it is to avoid casting judgment on others.  Jesus was instructing his disciples, HIS DISCIPLES --- not those foreign to Him and His teachings --- to be generous in spirit and to stop judging their brothers and sisters.  For Jesus to find it necessary to highlight this doctrine, is an indication that His followers were finding it difficult to master their prideful behavior, their ambition for power and their "I'm holier than thou attitude."   How are we handling this today?

Hidden in the birthday story, within the scandal, is someone's baby girl.  How did it come to this? Is she very different than we are? She is no more or less human than we.  She is a sinner --- we are all sinners. Sure, for each of us, there may be different circumstances. But, if we point an accusing finger at Agnes, we point an accusing finger at ourselves.   

For the minister in the birthday story, and for those of us who are modern day disciples of Jesus, when we meet a suffering soul in need of a kind word or deed, it's not only Agnes who is calling out for help --- it is Jesus who calls us to "give to everyone who asks of you."  St. Augustine says, "What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."

If the less fortunate don't call us in word, they call us just as truthfully in their need and in their circumstances.  In today's Gospel, Jesus' disciples are asked to "be merciful, just as your Father is merciful --- then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High."  This is a lesson in God's generosity --- you see, when we show compassion and charity to our brothers and sisters, we are bestowing compassion and charity on ourselves --- for Jesus will never be outdone in bestowing mercy and forgiveness.  Jesus says in the Book of Matthew, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

We can continue to look to the Book of Luke, where in the coming weeks we hear of the meeting of Jesus and the sinner Mary Magdalene, who some believe was herself a prostitute.    This encounter, and the encounter of the minister and Agnes have much in common --- they testify that every human being is sacred and that it only takes the love of one compassionate soul to restore some measure of happiness and self-worth to a person who has lost all hope.  I want to share with you the following reflection from Father Basil Maturin which beautifully expresses Jesus' compassion for Mary during this meeting, but as I share it with you, I'm going to replace references to Jesus with references to you and me because as Jesus' brothers and sisters, it is our responsibility to love those in need as Jesus loves them.       

From Fr. Basil Maturin:         

"There was much in the Magdalen that she had never used, perhaps never dreamed of, until she came to you (our Lord). You (He) revealed to her the secret of true self-development, which is another word for sanctity. And she found under your (His) guidance that everything in her had henceforth to be used, and used in a fuller and richer way than she had ever imagined possible. It was in no narrow school of self-limitation, (in no morbid school of false asceticism,) that this poor sinner was educated in the principles of sanctity, but in the large and merciful school of you (Him) who has been (ever since) the hope of the hopeless, the friend of (publicans and) sinners; who knows full well that what men need is not to crush and kill their powers, but to find their true use and to use them; that holiness is not the emptying of life, but the filling; that despair has wrapped its dark cloud around many a soul because it found itself in possession of powers that it abused (and could not destroy) and did not know how to use. You (Christ) taught them the great and inspiriting doctrine that Christ has ('I am) not come to destroy, but to fulfill.'"

May our Lord Jesus fill us with His grace so that one day, soon, these words will be alive in us.