Scripture Reflection, October 14: Words

Scripture Readings:
2 Kings 5: 14-17
Psalm 98
2 Timothy 2: 8-13
Luke 17: 11-19

All of us know from our experience of life just how powerful a word can be. A word can offer life or take life away; it can heal or inflict terrible wounds; it can give someone hope or drive them to despair. As we listen to the ongoing presidential debates among both Democrats and Republicans, we hear a litany of carefully scripted words. These are words designed to score points through sound bites. Sometimes they are words that are negative and accusatory in tone, used as weapons to inflict damage on an opponent. The recent controversies surrounding radio host Dom Imus and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas focus in part on words. These two cases involved disparaging words directed toward women. Words are powerful realities; they seem to possess a life and existence of their own.

The power of the word is very evident in our Scripture readings for this Sunday. The leper Naaman is given an authoritative word by the prophet Elisha, who tells him to plunge into the Jordan. At first, Naaman is quite disappointed with this command. He has journeyed to Israel in order to find the “man of God”, and he expects a more extraordinary way to cure his dreaded illness. His own country of Aram has mightier rivers than the puny Jordan. But eventually Naaman obeys the word of Elisha and, by heeding that word, discovers healing and a whole new life.

The Second Letter to Timothy is written in the tradition of Paul the apostle as a word of encouragement to his co-worker. This letter depicts Paul as a man whose entire life was impelled by the word of God. Paul was seized by this word of the gospel – a word that he tells us cannot be chained. He has preached the good news of Jesus Christ faithfully, even though it has meant tremendous hardship for him. Paul knows that this word of God is a word of life, a word of God’s saving love that must be preached.

In the Gospel story of the ten lepers, these people whose bodies have been ravaged by this disease stand a distance from Jesus. They dare not get too close to him but simply raise their voices in pleading. Jesus responds by giving a word of command: “Go show yourselves to the priests.” The word of Jesus brings new life to the victims of this terrible affliction. And the one who returns – the detested Samaritan – utters a powerful word of his own. He speaks a simple word of gratitude – a “thank you.” Through his word of thanks and praise to God, this Samaritan expresses the faith that is in his heart and which means salvation for him. His words of praise and thanksgiving make all the difference.

The word of God continues to be spoken to us, to you and to me in this day and time. It is offered to us in a special way through the Scriptures. That is why we take time to listen with care and reflect upon the Scriptures every time we celebrate the Eucharist. I think that all of us know, too, that God speaks his word to us in other ways as well, often right in the midst of everyday life. We just need to be attentive to it. God often speaks his word to us through one another.

Some time ago, I officiated at a wedding in New York. During the liturgy, I could not help but notice a couple who seemed to be in their early 60’s. The husband was clearly disabled in some way and had to be closely attended to by his wife. It was very difficult for him to come up to communion, but he made it with her help. At the reception, I discovered that this couple was the aunt and uncle of the bride, and I found myself sitting at the same table with them, along with some other couples. A relative told me that this gentleman had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for about four years. He had once been a tall, strapping fellow, a member of the NYC police department. But now he could hardly speak, his walking was limited, and his muscular control was very sporadic.

Throughout the reception, I could not help but notice the tenderness of his wife in relating to him. She spoke to him calmly and with a sense of reassurance. She helped him with his food and wiped his face with a napkin. There was a DJ at the reception, playing music at about 5000 decibels! At one point he played a song that everyone wanted to dance to, even the “older” generation. I soon found myself sitting at the table with just this couple. His wife told me that in bygone years her husband would have been the first one out on the dance floor and the last to leave. As the song played on, I noticed how she simply stood beside his chair at the table, smiling at her husband, holding his hand and moving it up and down to the beat of the music, as if they were still dancing with each other. Even though he could no longer make it out to the dance floor, they were still dancing together.

As a priest, the experience of this couple was a word of God to me. It was an eloquent word spoken in the midst of a rather noisy wedding reception. It was a word about fidelity, about being true to your promises in good times and in bad. It was a word about grace, about loving kindness and tender mercy. It was a word about God’s call – vocation. In witnessing this woman’s tender, exquisite care for her ailing husband, I was moved to reflect on what it meant to be faithful to my own vocation as a Passionist priest.

We speak words to one another. And these words are powerful, aren’t they? I believe that our Scriptures for this Sunday invite us reflect not only on our ability to listen to God’s word spoken to us, but also to think about the kinds of words we speak to one another, especially to those who are closest to us. Are they words that bring life to others? Are they words that reflect the presence of God to others, that enable them to be more aware of their dignity as God’s sons and daughters? This does not mean that our words always need to be “sweet” or “nice.” Sometimes we need to speak a word of challenge to those we love. We need to speak the truth in love. But this truth must be spoken in such a way that the other person knows that we love them.

Some of our most powerful words are spoken not in audible language but through simple deeds. The woman at the wedding spoke volumes to me through her tender care for her husband. The Scriptures for this Sunday challenge us to ask ourselves: What are we saying to one another through the ways in which we treat one another in the course of everyday life?

As we gather around the table of the Lord this weekend, we are like the once-leprous Samaritan. We come to this table in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. We are grateful because God’s final word to us is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Christ is God’s tender, exquisite word of love and of life spoken to each one of us. As we receive the Eucharist, may we go forth from the table to proclaim his word to others in our speech and by our lives.

Robin Ryan, CP