Reflection on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When I read the first reading about Sodom and Gomorrah, I know that I am always consoled by the fact that God would not destroy the innocent along with the guilty. There are far too many human instances where the innocent become collateral damage, including military operations, drunk driving accidents and divorces. It is comforting to know that God’s ways are not our ways and that we can aspire to do better. 

In my reading of this section of Genesis over the last month, my mind has wanted to say to some of our elected leaders who call themselves Christians, “What are you doing to make sure that the innocent are not swept up with the guilty in ICE raids?” It is important that ICE does not terrorize and pick up people while wearing their frightening costumes when those people are U.S. citizens or people who are here legally, whether they are tourists, students or people going through a court process. And I would like to ask elected leaders who make no-knock warrants legal, “What are you doing to make sure innocent people are not harmed when these warrants are executed in the middle of the night? And each of us may need to ask ourselves, who do we treat as guilty by association or guilty because of some previous disagreement on some issue?

Abraham kept asking the Lord, what if there are only 50 people, 45, 40, 30, 20 or 10 people, will you spare them? And God promised to spare them all and give the sinners time to repent even if there were only 10 innocent people left. I want to ask our Christian leaders to please be careful of who you are rounding up, taking to prisons or detention centers and deporting. It is important not to sweep up the innocent with the guilty. It is important that we all be forgiven for traffic violations and other minor transgressions. And it is my firm belief that there are probably only a handful of people here in the U.S. from other countries who are a real threat to our country and the safety of its citizens. 

When God took the time to spare these innocent lives (along with the guilty) and when God saved the enslaved Israelites who were living among the Egyptians when the Angel of Death came over, we can see God’s desire to save the innocent. And I can easily imagine God doing the same with Hamas militants and the Palestinians. When Jesus tells us that wherever two or more are gathered in his name, he is present there also, we know that Jesus is with the innocent ones who are arrested, detained, under siege, starved and killed. And we can have no doubt that today we must try to help the innocent and the displaced. We know the many answers to our own billboard that asks, “When did we see you hungry, homeless, ill, persecuted?” There is no shortage of work that needs to be done, perhaps only a shortage of workers who can face the significant power amassed against those who are now hungry, homeless, ill and persecuted.

Fortunately, we get strength and support from the Gospel. We have the prayer that Jesus taught us and we pray that God’s kingdom will come and God’s will be done. We believe this will happen, perhaps not in our lifetime, but it will happen aided by the efforts of all of us and many more. And when we receive our daily bread, we are grateful and want that to be true for the many who do not have enough to eat. And God knows how often we take consolation in the forgiveness of our own failings and shortcomings.

This is followed by a short lesson or reminder of the power of persistence. My mother’s mother was a very persistent woman, and over time we all learned to try to give her what she asked for. Usually it was something simple, like hot coffee or a meal out at her favorite place. No lukewarm coffee and no adventures please. We all knew that she would not politely take “no” for an answer and go on to a new topic. She was an insecure and often frightened person, and only a few things gave her even a temporary peace of mind.

So, the question is can we be compassionate and generous when we first hear a plea for help from someone who is desperate? I think of all who worked so hard to help create the DACA program and a comprehensive immigration bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for the current generations of immigrants. No success there, and so the pleas of the immigrant community continue. I think of all who helped the immigrant community as they arrived in the U.S. with very little other than a desire to work hard and live in safety with their children. I think of all who have worked with agencies to help immigrant communities settle, get their children in school and become contributing members of our society. We have responded with compassion and generosity. And we must continue to do so.

And still we need to return to the words Jesus gave us to remind us that if we knock, a door will be opened. Perhaps not the door we had in mind, but a door to fill the need. If we ask, we will receive what we need, even if we did not see clearly what was needed. And we know that we must seek, and we will find. Again, perhaps not what we sought after or wanted to find, but what God wants to provide out of love