Each one of us has probably passed judgment on others in one way or another. When we all gather our judgments together, we create a culture where some people are in and others are out.
The foreigner mentioned in today’s Gospel, Naaman the Syrian, was outside the group of God’s chosen people both religiously and culturally. The widow at Zarephath in Sidon is another example of someone who belonged to one of the groups on the peripheries who also had no place among the law-abiding and religiously devout Israelites of the day. In fact the Gospel can be read as a deep reflection on the human tendency to classify the people who we will allow to be part of our group and those we will not.
Jesus makes it clear that he is attracted to the “outsider.” He delights to show mercy. His love seeks out the ones who need and desire his tenderness, because they are so poor that they have nothing other than the God who loves them.
Recently, I was praying in a downtown chapel before I walked into the court house where I had been impaneled on a Grand Jury. I had been growing increasingly uncomfortable at the experience of being read the law and shown the evidence that others had broken the law. It was unsettling that they were not law-abiding citizens, and in fact, in some cases, had caused grievous harm to someone else. Where was God in their lives? I asked myself. Where was grace? I unconsciously began to view myself as “separate” from the people whose cases I heard. I belonged, they did not.
Jesus has helped me to understand that again and again in the Gospel he proclaims himself as the God of the outcast, the left behind, the marginalized, the lost, the blind, the lame, the thief on the cross dying at his side, the sinner at the table beside him. I prayed that I would never lose sight of the fact that in truth I am one of these poor ones, a sinner so in need of Jesus’ mercy, and who, without his gratuitous gift, would be lost.
Jesus’ neighbors in Nazareth used their favor to foster division among the people and to keep others out. May we use the gift of our faith and our relationship with Jesus to invite others in, so that we may all be welcome to gather around Jesus as one body.
Probablemente cada uno de nosotros haya juzgado a los demás de una forma u otra. Cuando todos reunimos nuestros juicios, creamos una cultura en la que algunas personas están dentro y otras fuera.
El forastero mencionado en el Evangelio de hoy, Naamán el Sirio, estaba fuera del grupo del pueblo elegido de Dios, tanto religiosa como culturalmente. La viuda de Sarepta en Sidón es otro ejemplo de alguien que pertenecía a uno de los grupos de las periferias que tampoco tenía lugar entre los israelitas respetuosos de la ley y religiosamente devotos de la época. De hecho, el Evangelio puede leerse como una profunda reflexión sobre la tendencia humana a clasificar a las personas a las que dejaremos formar parte de nuestro grupo y a las que no.
Jesús deja claro que se siente atraído por el “forastero”. Se deleita en mostrar misericordia. Su amor busca a quienes necesitan y desean su ternura, porque son tan pobres que no tienen nada más que al Dios que los ama.
Recientemente, estaba orando en una capilla del centro de la ciudad antes de entrar al tribunal donde me habían designado para un gran jurado. Me sentía cada vez más incómoda ante la experiencia de que me leyeran la ley y me mostraran pruebas de que otros habían infringido la ley. Era inquietante que no fueran ciudadanos respetuosos de la ley y, de hecho, en algunos casos, hubieran causado un daño grave a otra persona. ¿Dónde estaba Dios en sus vidas? Me pregunté a mí misma. ¿Dónde estaba la gracia? Inconscientemente comencé a verme como “separada” de las personas cuyos casos escuchaba. Yo pertenecía, y ellos no.
Jesús me ha ayudado a comprender que una y otra vez en el Evangelio se proclama como el Dios de los rechazados, de los abandonados, de los marginados, de los perdidos, de los ciegos, de los cojos, del ladrón en la cruz que muere a su lado, del pecador en la mesa a su lado. Recé para nunca perder de vista que en verdad soy uno de estos pobres, una pecadora tan necesitada de la misericordia de Jesús y que, sin su don gratuito, estaría perdida.
Los vecinos de Jesús en Nazaret usaron su favor para fomentar la división entre la gente y mantener a otros fuera. Que podamos usar el don de la fe y nuestra relación con Jesús para invitar a otros a entrar, para que todos seamos bienvenidos a reunirnos alrededor de Jesús como un solo cuerpo.
Sr. Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is an author and offers online evangelization as well as spiritual formation for people on their journey of spiritual transformation and inner healing. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com My Books: https://touchingthesunrise.com/books/
Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ HeartWork Spiritual Formation Group: https://touchingthesunrise.com/heartwork/
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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and seven grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is 
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