Whose heart is not warmed by the words of today’s first reading: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened…fear not!  Here is your God…He comes to save you!”  All of us harbor fears of one sort or another.  Whose heart is not lifted at the sight of the blind, the deaf and the lame, healed through the power of God? 

The juxtaposition of today’s second reading with these moving images raises haunting questions:  Are we the ones who are deaf in our hearing of the Gospel?  Are we blind to our distinctions?  Are we impaired in speaking according to the mandates of the Gospel?  Do we limp in our following of Jesus?  If we are among those who favor the rich and look with disdain on the poor, the answer to all of the above is “yes”. 

Ironically, it is the poor, the ones whom the world shuns, who have a special place in God’s heart (James 2:5, see also Psalm 34:6; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 6:20).  Throughout the scripture, God commands that special care be shown them (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 15:11; Isaiah 58:1, 7; Ezekiel 16:49; Luke 16:19-31; James 2:14-17, 5:1-5).  In their poverty, the poor know well their dependence on God and as a result, are “rich in faith” (James 2:5).  In their poverty, the poor have room for God.  

By contrast, the wealthy who shun them can be described as “poor in faith.”  What is worse, in “dishonor(ing) the poor person” (James 2:6), they fail to be like the merciful God.  The accusations is a sobering one, “for the judgement is merciless to one who has not shown mercy” (James 2:13). 

Today’s scriptures call us to look squarely at our own poverty and impairments.  Only then, will we seek God’s mercy.  Only then, can we know the fullness of God’s salvation.