Gospel of Mark, chapter 7:37

Once there was an old man whose eyes blinked and hands trembled. When he ate he clattered the silverware, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. He lived with his son, but his son’s wife didn’t like the arrangement.

“I can’t have this,” she said. “It interferes with my life.” So she and her husband took the old man gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. From then on he always ate in the corner, blinking at the table with wistful eyes.

One day his hands trembled rather more than usual, and the earthenware bowl fell and broke. “If you are like a pig,” said the daughter-in-law, “you will eat from a trough.” So they made him a little wooden trough for his meals. This couple had a four-year-old son, the apple of their eyes. One evening, the father and mother noticed their son playing with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing? “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling up for approval, “to feed both of you when I get big.” The parents of the boy went to the corner and took the old man by the arm and led him back to the table. They sat him in a comfortable chair and gave him his food on a plate, and from then on nobody ever scolded him when he clattered or spilled or broke things.

This story illustrates the evil of overlooking the fact that every human being, irrespective of age, health or wealth, needs to be treated with dignity and respect. Today’s gospel passage mentions how delighted the people were to see Jesus treating everyone with respect and dignity. He did not discriminate against the disabled or the infirm. He caused the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. Today’s scripture should cause us to reflect on how we treat the poor in our midst.

St. James gives us a practical example of how people show favoritism towards the rich while discriminating against the poor. They offer the “best seat “ to the “rich man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes,” and say to the poor man: “stand over there, or sit here on the floor by my feet.” (James 2:2-4)

Are church ushers wrong in finding a seat for a wealthy man who enters church? No. What then is the problem? The problem is when they do not equally find a seat for a poor man but ask him to stand in the back of the church or ignore him altogether. The fault with some churches today is that they discriminate against different ethnic groups and refuse to integrate them into their churches with the same rights and privileges as everyone else. They relegate them to the side; they put them into another building but not in the main church where they belong as brothers and sisters in Christ. St. James makes it clear that discrimination is contrary to the gospel.

“Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith”, he says, and to be “heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5). He makes it clear that our obligation is to pay honor and respect to everyone starting with our poor brothers and sisters in the faith. After all, it was the poor people who embraced the faith of Christ when He began His ministry. This is why the church must have a preferential option for the poor because they are entitled to the care of the church.

Let us pray that God may open our eyes to serve Him in all people; especially in the poor, the weak and the vulnerable.

Fr. Hugh Duffy