Essential Workers (2021-01-24, Sunday-03)

January 24, 2021 –  3^rd, (Year B)

●● Jonah 3:1-5, 10 ●● Psalm 25 ●● 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 ●● Mark 1:14-20 ●●

[__01__]   Are you as an “essential worker”?         

          In the past year, we have heard this identifier, regarding workers and professionals in:

-         HEALTH CARE + MEDICINE, nurses, physicians, technicians and maintenance personnel who clean and sanitize hospitals and patient rooms are vital & essential.

-         FOOD – food service workers in supermarkets, stores, restaurants are critical to our nutrition and survival.

-         CONSTRUCTION – structural jobs such as electricians, plumbers, construction workers both inside and outside are necessary and essential.

-         EDUCATION – teachers and teachers’ aides whether remote or in person are critical to the growth and nurturing of our children.

-         911 – police, fire, EMS / EMT and all emergency personnel maintain order and peace and help the most vulnerable.

[__02__]   Lots of different people are “essential” = of utmost importance.

          This is how we look at things.

          But, does this mean that some people are not “essential” ?

[__03__]    In this Gospel passage , this Sunday, this passage is official described as the “The Call of the 1^st Disciples” or the “The Call of the 1^st Apostles” = P, A, J, J. (Mark 1:14-20)

          All of them were fishermen. They were Jesus’ essential workers.

[__04__]   Is work an essential part of our existence / identity? Yes, work and even getting paid is an important part of our existence.

          I recall one incident from many years ago, when I was just out of college, one of my first jobs, and my boss told me I was going from one job to another and that I was getting a raise and told me the exact amount of the raise.

          When I got my first paycheck, I calculated exactly what that weekly amount was, multiplied by 52 weeks of the year and realized there was more money than I expected.

          I was thinking there was some mistake, as though I should return extra change I got at the cash register.

          My boss said it was OK.  Don’t worry about it.

          But, I was concerned about it. And, for many years, centuries, millennia, we - human beings have been “worrying about it… ”  not only been trying to figure out their “work”  (i.e., what to do) …. but also their “worth” (what are they valued at). How are we valued?

          What’s my worth? Am I essential?

          Knowing life to be “essential”, it also helps us to live with a sense of true “equality”.

[__05-new__]  This past Friday – January 22^nd – was  a day of prayer/fasting for the sanctity of human life, especially the sanctity of the life of unborn children, coinciding w/ Roe v. Wade 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in all 50 states.

          What is wrong about abortion is that a viewpoint has taken hold – among many people and even among scholars of law and medicine -  that a child/baby is less than “essential” or that anyone’s life is less “essential” if that life is not if someone is not wanted, that life may not be worth living, or that human life is not longer essential. That’s a basic “inequality.”

          Such a viewpoint that certain lives are less than essential affects our view of ourselves and affects our view of others, the respect we have for others, not just tragic results of an individual abortion but also tragic results of sadness or anxiety we may experience, or tragic disrespect through unequal treatment of others.

          God loves us and does not abandon us. While there may be sadness or anxiety that a mother or father may experience after an abortion and there is healing and hope for these our brothers and sisters who may be mourning or in pain. There is a program called Rachel’s Vineyard to which you or others may inquire confidentially through me or the Respect Life office of the Archdiocese. I assure you that every priest – including me – would be eager to guide you and journey with you.

          We are called to let others to know they are loved no matter has transpired in the past.

          When we truly view and value life –life as essential – it can lead to beautiful results of harmony and connection with others, and new appreciation of our own dignity.  “We are bonded in soul and heart because of Christ’s physical and spiritual sacrifice as the Son of God. We become whole in him and in relation to others. As members of the Church, we are called to be a family who loves and cares for others, even those outside of our communities. ”  (https://www.catholicapostolatecenter.org/blog/one-body-many-parts)

          During the pandemic, suicide risk has been much higher.        

          One of things we really value – and should value right now as Americans – is equality of rights and equal protection for all people. This is a gift. But it’s not a gift we acquired on Amazon or credit cards earned with “points” or how much  money we have spent or earned. We do not have to go through “try outs” to get this gift of

          It is a gift given by God. Equality of rights is based on a view that we are all created by God, that we all came from the same place, that we are all – ESSENTIAL.  We are his essential workers.

          We are all equal.  Here is an example

[__07__]   There is a TV show called “Grey’s Anatomy”  in which we meet nurses, physicians, and especially surgeons who are learning to carry out the essential work of medicine and healing.

          In one episode – a central character – Dr. Meredith Grey – is talking with her mother who is also a retired physician looking back on her own career and her very high hopes and aspirations for her daughter. This is a mother-daughter and also elder doctor-younger doctor conversation.

          Dr. Meredith Grey is asked a question about her life and hopes and she responds immediately by telling her mother that she has a boyfriend and that she is very happy in this relationship.

          Her mother, on the other hand, wonders whether this relationship is really serious or worthwhile and does the boyfriend understand the demands of Meredith’s medical career?

          Then Meredith is asked, “have you chosen a medical speciality ” and mentions that others are already doing so and she should not wait too long.   Meredith responds: “Well, you know, it’s still early and I am waiting to be inspired”.

          The mother responds – with some fury and insistency, especially because the mother herself is suffering from a terrible disease and needs all the best from her doctors:

          “You are waiting to be inspired? I am dying here and you are telling me about your boyfriend.   What happened to you?

The Meredith-daughter I knew was a force of nature, a worker, passionate, a fighter…. You have gone soft…. I have a disease for which there is no cure…are you kidding me? Anybody can fall in love, not everyone can pick up a scalpel and knife and heal someone [as a doctor can]”.  PAUSE

In a way, Meredith is simply being reminded – in a very forceful way – that she matters, that she is essential and that no one can take that away from her.

No one can take away the essential nature of a human being – of your essential nature.

Of course, Meredith – in this fictional case – is bearing her mother’s anger and being told that what is essential is based on what is functional or productive.

Nevertheless, the question remains that Jesus might ask any one of us – “what happened to you”  not in a vengeful or reproving way but also in a way that does require a response from us, that does call us to prayer, to work for his coming and his kingdom each day so that we may be his essential workers. [__fin__]