23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 7, 2003

Today's reading speaks of the coming of God's Kingdom -- anticipated in Isaiah's prophecy and realized in the person of Jesus Christ and those who live the gospel. It is a kingdom of liberation and justice for the oppressed. For those who have lived full of fear and anxiety, it is a time of rejoicing and vindication by our God who comes to save us.

Though the oracle was spoken more than seven centuries before the appearance of the Christ -- the recognizable sign of the kingdom was to be one of transformation and healing: of the deaf, the lame, the mute, the crippled, the possessed, the melancholic, those with any physical or spiritual disease.

Physical deafness and muteness have spiritual equivalents. On a symbolic level, the healing of the deaf man reminds us how much each of us needs to be "opened" to the word of God. Though we would like to imagine that we are in tune with the Voice within; most of us are selective listeners, hearing and saying that which suits us. God speaks, but we do not always listen. God sends us directives, but we prefer the sound of our own voice, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Listen to this parable. One day a young boy was given two newborn puppies, one white and the other gray. He put the gray puppy in his crib, but held and petted his white puppy until late in the evening, even asking his mom if he could take it to bed. She advised him that he might roll over and smother the puppy; so he gently put the puppy in the crib with the gray one.

Each morning he would feed his puppies and place them in the crib. All day his thoughts were on his beautiful white puppy. When he came home from school, he let the gray puppy out to wander around, but held and patted the white dog for hours.

Days and weeks passed and the boy’s fondness for his white puppy intensified; the gray puppy began to bark for no apparent reason, to soil the carpet, even though he had been housebroken. Sometimes he would try to break things or throw up on the kitchen floor; but the young boy was so absorbed in playing with his white puppy that he didn't notice. When his parents pointed out the dog's behavior, he scolded the dog and became even closer to his white beauty.

Years passed, the gray dog discontinued his mischief. The two dogs played together, ate their meals together; but the gray dog sensed the difference. At times he became sad rather than angry. He had stopped making messes, but when his master came home from school he always went for his white dog, even when the gray dog caught his eye filled with sadness and wagging his tail, the boy ignored him.

More years passed, the puppies were now dogs and the boy a young man. One rainy morning driving to work, his car skid off the road. Moments later he opened his eyes to find himself in ICU with tubes and wires coming out of him. As he closed his eyes he saw the figure of a dog -- his white dog. Love filled his whole being with serenity.

Then the face of the dog began to change -- to pale -- to beige and to gray. An uncomfortable feeling came over him. Then the image changed to the day when the dogs were first given to him. O My God! The words froze in his throat. How could I have been so cruel, so callous, for all these years? The images continue to roll lie a video. The man began to tremble and weep unashamedly. God don't let me die without making it up to my gray dog.

The man survived his injuries and when he was released and driven home, the two dogs came running to meet him. The white dog led, and jumped up on the car. The gray dog stood at his usual respective distance with his tail wagging. Opening the door the man gently pushed the white dog aside, threw his arms wide open and ran toward the gray dog to hug him. The gray dog bit the man.

Was it planned revenge, just waiting for the right opportunity, or was it simply confusion -- not recognizing this change in his master's behavior; or was the dog stunned at this unexpected gesture of love; a love coming from someone he had thought incapable of loving him.

The answers are as varied as there are persons.

The story is of course a parable-- but like the man in today's gospel, there are times in everyone's life when we are in need of some kind of healing; when our minds and attitudes have become clouded and out of focus; our growth becomes stunted and we need to return to Jesus as the healer.

Perhaps we feel angry, vengeful, surprised, stunned. Like the gray dog, our initial response is one of aggression. Hopefully that is not the final response.

If we let Jesus touch us and teach us, we can experience a whole new world opening up for us. To the healed there is a new access to a community of faith that perhaps you never knew, or perhaps, lost. In Jesus we are made whole and enriched by every member of the faith community.

This is the kingdom, which is promised, and is already here. This is the new life of the third millennium, the healing of the Jubilee Year if we take the time to open the door of our heart and refocus and broaden our visions. Do you think the young man continued to treat his dogs inequitably? Do you think the gray dog continued to bite? Rejoice for your God has come to save you.