Lord, Heal Our Infirmities

事關敏感，祇寫英文（創11:7）。望為見諒

Twenty Third Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: 主，請治好我們的病痛 Lord, Heal Our Infirmities

Three years ago, I wrote about the blindness and deafness of the inhabitants of an island caused by egocentrism. Today, the situation seems to have worsened. Here on this small island, the phenomenon is reaching an epidemic level, somewhat similar to the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus? The abuse of a certain "securities" law which is vague, ex post facto, and have nowhere to appeal except to God!

A chill was sent down my spine when the assets of a media-conglomerate were frozen and the executives were arrested, denying bail. One by one, opposition parties/groups are disbanded and councillors at different levels disqualified, ignoring the legal principle of presumption of innocence. A deafening silence is spreading among the surviving media. On the other hand, mandarins surround themselves with people of double-tongues. They turn a blind eye to the plights of the islanders and care only about their own prospect. Despite their “good” intention to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), one in the north and the islanders, they flatly fail. Now with a vague and retroactive "securities" law in hand, they are no longer able to pretend serving the commoners anymore. It is now easier for them to blatantly devour commoners to fatten themselves in the name of serving their northern masters. “Serving the people” becomes a sarcastic slogan! I wonder if they see their own fate. When all cunning rabbits are wiped out, running dogs will be roasted.

I lament the commoners. They are labelled whatever the mandarins find handy, thus have become lambs waiting to be slaughtered. They are fed with a “reality” made up above. They have eyes and yet are not permitted to see the truth. The commoners are deafened by a silence mentioned above. They have ears and yet can only hear numbing chants and bland slogans. This deafness is augmented by a self-censorship in the media which manage to survive the first round of purge. In other words, media turn mute. They can only paint a rosy picture permitted by the north! The prospect of this small island is grim. With the imposition and a selective enforcement of the "securities" law, most islanders are forced to become blind, deaf and mute in order to survive. Is such a survival worth living?

We firmly believe that our Creator is not blind. He is able to hear our lamentations and pleads. He has spoken through His Son, the Scriptures and the Church. So, He is not blind, or deaf or mute. Yet He does not answer our cries according to our expectations. Has He forgotten His mercy? Is He angry with our sins and turns His attention elsewhere? Or does He permit this evil in order to prevent or stop an even greater evil? Or have we turned to a wrong direction to find His deliverance? Very likely, we have turned to the wrong direction!

In the first reading today, the prophet says, “Say to the fearful of hearts: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, He comes with vindication; With divine recompense He comes to save you.” (Isaiah 35:4) Who are the fearful of hearts? The islanders or the mandarins? I think both are, but in different ways. Together, they are outnumbered by the huge population in the north. Previously, the north was economically backward and in order to shield themselves from foreign influences, they demanded that “River water should not be permitted to interfere with fountain water.” Today, their wealth emboldened them and they are ready to kill the goose which once lay golden eggs for them. The mandarins have more to lose than the commoners. So, they have surrendered and are willing to serve the north instead. Therefore, their hearts are more frightened. Regrettably, what God pledged to do is not what they want! “The eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened … and the mute tongue sing for joy.” (35:5-6) No, this is not what they want. They want to turn a blind eye to the evils they have help caused. Moreover, they don’t want the commoners to see the truth because it would be a hell to govern them. God, if you heal my blindness, whatever is left of my conscience shall be very painful. If you heal the blind and make them see, you’re my enemy! Similarly, I don’t want to hear my schemes exposed nor do I allow the commoners to hear the same. I’ll kill more to stop you, my God, from making unpleasant noises. I surely will kill and more ruthlessly.

The deaf-mute in the gospel today did not come to see Jesus out of his own freedom. He was deaf and thus unable to hear of the miracles and cures performed by Jesus. Very likely, he was brought to Jesus against his own will! Perhaps the crowd was hostile, making use of this deaf-mute to test and tease Jesus. Had Jesus been a racist and despised them, they would have an excuse to ban Jesus from preaching in their turf. Had Jesus been a rogue, they would have exposed him. Perhaps this explains why Jesus took the deaf-mute off by himself away from the crowd in order to heal him (Mark 7:33)! The rest of the story shows that God’s mercy sees no bound. Yet, who is going to bring the mandarins or the islanders before Jesus to receive His cure? I’m afraid the Good Shepherd needs to leave behind the 99 islanders to reach out for the lost mandarin! So, God is not ignoring our lamentations. In fact, He is on His way to seek and bring the lost mandarins back to the fold.

As long as we are not doing any evil or worshipping any idols, we are confident that the present situation is not a punishment for our sins. Therefore, brethren! Let us pray for the lost mandarins and their masters in the north. May the merciful Lord cure them for our common good.
God bless!
2018 Homily
Picture Credit: saintpats.org