Not a pair! It's a trio! (reflection Third Sunday of Advent, year C)

Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration

Third Sunday of Advent (Year C)

 

The Responsorial Psalm today is taken from Psalm 146. It includes reference to the specially protected Biblical trio – widows, orphans, and strangers.

 

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

 

The pair, widows and orphans, is completely familiar. But in the Old Testament, this pair is actually a trio most of the time. Here’s a quick insight from simple stats. There are 49 references to widows in Scripture. Of those 49, 21 refer to widows and orphans. It’s noteworthy that of those 21, 18 refer to widows and orphans and strangers, like Psalm 146.

 

Why? What’s special about these three? It is clear that God protects them in a special way, but is there a commonality among them that we can understand? Well, in many societies, a wife has depended on her husband for stability and protection. Without a husband, she is vulnerable. A child without a father has been similarly unprotected. And a stranger or immigrant lives without the protection of a king – or nation. Living without a husband or a father or a king is not the end of life, but often they are significant difficulties. And in these three easily understood situations, the Lord steps forward to assure that he takes responsibility. If you oppress them, the Lord will take their side. When? How? That’s not clear at all; but he will, in time and eternity.

 

You can’t blame a widow or an orphan for their status, but it’s sometimes tempting to blame strangers for their situation. If they are suffering or struggling because they are outside their own community, was the problem self-imposed? Why don’t they just go home? There are two things worth noting in response to that question. First, there are almost 200 references to strangers (the noun ger and the verb guwr) in the Old Testament; the command to welcome there is everywhere, but there aren’t any inquiries into why they are on the road. Okay, Scripture doesn’t encourage prodding about their business, but we still want to know. So, second: look at the list of common situations that made someone a stranger. There are exiles (that’s everyone on earth), refugees from violence or poverty, missionaries (Jesus was homeless throughout his public ministry), pilgrims and explorers, misfits and scapegoats, nomads: the list goes on, and it’s interesting but does not encourage judgment and condemnation.

 

The teaching of Moses refers to strangers many times: welcome strangers, because – remember! – you too were once a stranger in a strange land. Remember, he says – invoking not a personal memory but a communal memory. Jesus says the same thing in a different way, responding to a legalistic question, “Who is my neighbor?” He encourages us to empathize by imagination, trying to understand the experience of someone in trouble, imitating the Good Samaritan. Communal memory or imagination: either way, work to get inside the mind and heart of those in need. Put yourself in their shoes, say Moses and Jesus, in different ways.

 

You can care for widows and orphans and strangers because you understand their plight, and you are moved by a little bit of love. That’s good. But if you can’t find love in your heart, a bit of fear might work as a bridge toward goodness. God protects them. If love of neighbor doesn’t motivate you today, fear of God can be the beginning of wisdom.

 

Take good care of this vulnerable trio.