"Do something about it" Reflection for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B

Reading today’s Gospel carefully, we can’t help but feel quite sad for the Lord. 

Take a minute and imagine ourselves in his place. 

There he was, hoping to tell his disciples, his friends, that very shortly he would be handed over, be betrayed, would suffer, and be killed. 

And, what was his friends’ response?

Nothing.

They didn’t understand and didn’t even bother to ask what he meant. Then, just as to prove their ability to be so insensitive, they got into a debate of who would be the greatest among themselves.

Have you ever been in a somewhat similar situation where you wanted to share something so important, and yet your friends just did not seem to care?

I have to admit I so admire the Lord’s patience. If it were me who was in his shoes, trust me, I would not be nearly that gentle, no matter how good of friends they were to me. 

But, see; these guys weren’t bad people. If they were, they wouldn’t bother accompanying a guy who, in his own words, had “no place to rest his head.” No, these were very good folks; the only problem was they were so caught up within their own agenda that they missed the obvious. They missed the Lord’s reaching-out to them and his invitation for them to enter more deeply in his Father’s plan. 

Let’s not be so quick to judge them, however. Because, dear friends, we, people of this twenty first century, are doing the same thing, and are making the same mistake. 

At times in our lives, we find ourselves so caught up with our own plans that we miss Christ suffering all around us. We overlook the 925 million hungry people in our world. We overlook the five millions children died every year because of the lack of food. We overlook the countless men and women, jobless and homeless, many of whom were victims of deprivation and extortion from greedy employers. We overlook, even in our own homes, elderly parents who long for some companionship. We overlook children who are desperate to be acknowledged, loved, and cared for.

These agendas, such as that of an endless striving on the career ladders, of obtaining wealth, of ambitions, of wanting for success, are becoming the driving force of our lives. They, although in themselves, aren’t necessarily evil, without them society cannot progress, however can easily disable us from seeing what truly is happening around us.

 And so, out of sight, out of mind. 

That is until it hits us right in the face with a cosmic impact. For the disciples, it was the horrid passion Christ underwent. For us, what would it be? The loss of the loved ones we’ve inadvertently neglected? Or, the children whom we loved so much fall into crimes, drugs, or alcoholism, because we just haven’t gotten time to care? Or, God forbids, we contract some sever illness ourselves and understand for the first time what it means to be truly in pain? Or, maybe we encounter an experience like that of Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist, in this story which I wish to share:

In 1993, Kevin Carter began snapping photos of famine victims at an UN feeding center in drought-stricken Sudan. Then, one day, seeking relief from the sight of such misery, he wandered into an open bush. There he heard a soft, high-pitched whimpering and found a tiny, frail little girl crouched, head bowed, struggling to make it to the feeding center. 

 

Carter instantly got camera ready, for here was powerful picture. He started to photograph her when dramatically, a well-fed vulture, taller by far than the child, landed a few feet behind her waiting to claim her when she died. This was a picture of a life time! Careful not to disturb the bird, Carter repositioned himself for the best picture possible. He waited for about twenty minutes for the vulture to do something like spread its wings for even a more dramatic image. I didn’t. So, after Carter took his photo, he chased the vulture away and watched as the little resume her struggle alone. 

Later in the day, when he finally got a chance to sit down and think about it all, he sat under a tree, chain-smoking, talking to God, and … crying. He thought of his small daughter Meghan and longed to hug her. The picture that Carter took appeared in the New York Times in March 1993. It proved controversial. Carter was criticized for being so absorbed in his craft that he didn’t reach out to help the little girl. In 1994, his photograph won the Pulitzer Prize.

Two months later Carter committed suicide.

Carter was not a bad, neither are we. We are merely humans who, sadly, are slaves to blind-sightedness. We fail to his Christ speaking to us of his sufferings in his lowly ones in the world today. It is not because we do not want to; we are just so much caught up in the “me” plans. For Kevin Carter a great photo shot of a life time. What about us? Well, that’s for me and you to name.

Now, from a different angle, we may be tempted to think that God will certainly provide for the poor and the oppressed. After all, they, too, are his children. And we are right. God will provide. God has provided for them, as a matter of fact; God has made you and me. 

Friends, the bottom-line message of this reflection is narrowed down to just this: notice Christ. Listen to his cry of pains and suffering in our world today. And then, to the best of our ability, do something about it.