(Third Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year A; This homily was given on January 26, 2020 in Primavalle-Rome, Italy; See Isaiah 8:23-9:3 and Matthew 4: 12-23)
In the terminology of the International organisations, it is called “forced migration.” It is what happens when there is a conflict or war, and millions of people suffer. People who are not soldiers, not directly involved in the conflict, are “in the way” and are forced to make a choice. Either they move or they die. Often, with only the clothes on their back and whatever they can carry in their hands (which is often their smallest child), they leave their home and seek a safer place.
Recent figures indicate that there are over 70 million forced migrants in the world today. Half of them come from one of three countries: Afghanistan, South Sudan or Syria. Some 40 million are “internally displaced persons” or IDPs. They have fled their home but remain in the same country. Their future is far from secure. Another 25 million persons are refugees, people that have fled their own country and are seeking refuge in a foreign land, where they have no citizenship, no resources and very little hope. Millions of others are trafficked, collateral damage in the world of conflict and war.
Pope Francis has taken a deep, personal interest in the care of these vulnerable people. There is an entire section in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development dedicated to assisting refugees and migrants. The sisters in your community here in this city, and in places all across the world, also devote tremendous care and resources to meet the basic needs of these persons who often have nowhere else to turn. You bring God into the lives of these vulnerable people, and where there is God there is hope.
In the Scriptures this weekend, we listen to the tragic story of forced migration in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and in the Gospel of St. Matthew. We hear about the “land of Zebulun and of Naphtali.” These two tribes of Israel were located in the far northwest region of the nation, which means they were on the border. They were much more vulnerable to attack than the interior tribes.
In the 8th century before the birth of Christ, the major superpower of that part of the world was Assyria. Over the course of several years they had invaded, destroyed and conquered the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. Thousands of people were carried away into exile, enslaved in Assyria, never to return home again. Furthermore, the Assyrians sent thousands of their own people into Zebulun and Naphtali, to colonise that place and erase its former identity. The phrase “Galilee of the Gentiles” was not a positive one, but a term of scorn and derision.
By the time of Christ, the people of Israel were well aware of the tragic fate of Zebulun and Naphtali. It was a dark place on the face of the earth, a place that many would have considered forsaken. But Isaiah reminds the people of God that they have NOT been forgotten! This land is NOT forsaken. The Messiah would walk into the middle of that place and shine the light of hope on all humanity. Isaiah prophesied:
First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali: but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.
—Isaiah 8:23-9:3
St. Matthew proclaims that Jesus “went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be FULFILLED” (Matthew 4:13-14). It is there in the “land of gloom” that Jesus will call His first Apostles, whom He will send out to the furthest reaches of the word to spread the light of the Gospel of salvation. God has indeed “gloried the seaward road”!
The spiritual principle we find at work in the readings this weekend teaches us that God can—and often does—work in the most painful places; He is capable of shining His light into the darkness of our world in every age. The miracle of grace that happened in the first century with the coming of Christ continues to work in the world through His body, the Church.
In the 5th century, as the Christian faith continued to spread throughout the world, a young man named Patrick was living in Britain. When he was only 16 years old, the village where he resided was attacked by marauders and Patrick was carried off to Ireland and forced to work as a shepherd. There, tending the flocks alone day after day, he began to remember the Catholic faith that he had been taught as a child but never completely followed. He remembered the exhortations to always be prepared for the day of salvation, to follow the commandments, to pray and worship God.
The light of faith was there enkindled in the heart of that young man, and he began to devote many hours each day to prayer. And so it was that Patrick was attentive to the voice of God within his soul. One evening, he recalls in his spiritual testimony or Confessio, he heard the Lord say to him, “Your ship is ready.” It seemed quite strange to Patrick, because he was hundreds of miles from the shore! Nonetheless, he heard the voice again, “Your ship is ready.” Motivated by faith, he escaped from captivity and made his way to the sea. As he arrived to that place, never having been there before, there was a ship leaving the port for Britain! Patrick was carried back home and was eventually reunited with his family.
Several years after his return, however, Patrick heard another voice. This time it was not the voice of God, but the “voice of the Irish,” and he relates the words he heard deep within his soul: “We beseech thee, holy young man, to come and walk among us once again.” He writes how his heart was broken and he was moved with great love, choosing then to return to Ireland as a missionary and to proclaim the Catholic faith to them. St. Patrick, as we know, is the patron saint of Ireland. In him, too, did God glorify “the seaward road.”
Where is God calling us to be more attentive to His voice in our lives at this time? Where is He calling us, along “the seaward road,” in those places where there is darkness, sadness and gloom? Where are the “forsaken” present among us, in need of the Good News of Jesus Christ and the redemptive power of God’s grace? The Missionaries of Charity are founded on this very reality. God spoke to St. Teresa of Calcutta, asking her to, “Come, be my light.” He called her to carry His light to those who were suffering in the darkness. May we all continue to respond to that call, to be sent by Christ to dispel the darkness and to be His light in every part of this world.
