My mother had very few relatives. The Hanleys and the Coffeys in Woonsocket were her aunts and her cousins. My father however had a good number of relatives mostly in Providence. His aunt Rose and uncle Tom Moran as well as his cousins Mary and Anna, along with the Donahues, the Rileys, the McGoverns, the Henrys, the Duffys and other cousins all with roots in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, Eire, were a frequent destination for a Sunday afternoon drive from Woonsocket. But it was always the Kileys who motored down from Woonsocket and never the cousins who would drive up from Providence. “Way up there?” their attitude suggested. We might as well have lived in Worcester.
The alienation of Woonsocket from the rest of Rhode Island might suggest the way the ancient Jews felt about northern Israel: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen (Is.8:23).” These two provinces were once known for their bravery as noted in the Book of Deborah. But they also were within a prime travel route from the interior of Asia Minor to the Mediterranean Sea. This strategic location made them liable to much foreign (pagan) influence. Northern Israel was also the first area to be conquered by the Assyrian Empire, leading to deportation into Assyria. Upon their return, the region sadly became known as “Galilee of the Gentiles,” since international commerce and foreign exile had made their authentic Jewish background questionable.
Yet happy days were about to return to these northern provinces. Zebulun and Naphtali are about to make history, not thanks to commercial or military success, but thanks to the very Presence of God in their midst. As this Sunday’s first reading heralds, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing (Is.9:2,3).” The light of course was Jesus Christ himself, the very Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, one in being with the Father, through whom all things were made. These provinces were indeed blessed by the presence of their glorious native son: “He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.” And Jesus truly made his Divine Presence felt: “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people (Mt.4:23).”
The Presence of Christ transformed these neglected provinces from being an afterthought within Jewish society to being the very home of God Himself. Personal nearness to the Lord was God’s great gift to Israel’s northern region. And personal nearness to the Lord is today God’s gift to the faithful Catholic believer. Yes, modern humanity can often seem to “sit in darkness” and to dwell “in a land overshadowed by death.” Sunday Mass attendance is off. Vocational statistics are grim. Marriage is treated very casually. Some governmental laws allow errant behavior. The homeless, the addicted, and the lawless are an increasing challenge. Much about contemporary society is certainly discouraging.
Yet the psalmist in this Sunday’s liturgy rightly celebrates the Personal Presence of God through Christ as a believer’s greatest strength: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD and contemplate his temple. I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD (Ps.27:1-14).”
A vibrant faith in the gracious nearness of God in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, and in works of charity will certainly enliven the Christian soul allowing every believer, like Peter and Andrew in this Sunday’s Gospel, to “drop their nets” and follow Christ as a personal savior and source of inner strength. It was the nearness of Christ that transformed Galilee and it is still the Divine Presence of Christ through his Church that will transform today’s believer and today’s society.
