C: 3rd Sun of Lent (24 Mar 2019) - PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR - Lk 13:1-9

The Galileans in our gospel are seemingly blamed by the public for the misfortunes that befell on themselves. What Luke was recalling is Pilate’s ordered massacre of Galilean protesters whose blood he mixed with the sacrifice (Lk 13:1). This event is, however, unsure since it is only Luke who gives us this account and no other contemporaneous literature corroborates with this story. Nevertheless, despite its uncertainty, what remains clear is that the Galileans are renowned for some subversive activities, being the provenance of the so-called Zealots who had viciously opposed the Roman authorities.

Indeed, in history, there are several rebels who hailed from Galilee. The famous one is Judas the Galilean who led a group of insurgents against the imperial rule (cf. Acts 5:37). Another is Judah of Galilee, who in around 6 CE preached a revolution against the Roman census in Judea; he was soon killed but his company grew as the Zealots. With the escalating notoriety of the Galileans, in would be understandable why the public began to say with a tinge of insult: “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee?” (Jn 7:41) and “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee too” (Jn 7:52). This condescending discourse even led some to conclude that Galileans are irreligious and pagans as a popular appellation of this region goes “Galilee of the Gentiles” (cf. Isa 9:1; Mt 4:15).

The main probable reason why the Galileans had been associated to many political protests is their very socio-economic condition. With the centralization of power in the South (Judea) that left the Northern regions (Galilea and Samaria) neglected and socially insignificant, most inhabitants remained poor. The Galileans were reduced to being fisherfolks around Lake Galilee which had exclusively provided them with their main source of livelihood. Despite their poverty, many inhabitants of the capital city of Jerusalem not only lived in affluence but abused the little ones by profiting on the latter’s meager earnings. This is evident in the Gospel reading for the 3rd Sunday of Lent in Liturgical Year B (Jn 2:13-22) where many opportunists sold imposed merchandise to poor pilgrims in Jerusalem. Jesus defended the poor as well as the sanctity of the Father’s house as he gathered a whip of cords, driving these dealers away who had turned the temple precincts into a marketplace (v. 16)

Appropriately, in the Liturgical Year A of our Church Calendar, we read on the 3rd Sunday of Lent the story of the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman (Jn 4:4-42). It is mentioned in the narrative that the Jews and the Samaritans did not socially interact with each other (v. 9), to the point that they could not talk to one another for a prolonged period of time and probably share utensils with each other. Despite this socio-ethnic barrier, Jesus gave in to the Samaritan villagers’ invite, staying at their place, not one day, but two days (v. 40). Meanwhile, the Jews took shot at Jesus for his growing closeness to the Samaritans, accusing him as becoming a Samaritan himself and as demented by an evil spirit (Jn 8:48).

Jesus, in our gospel, defended the Galileans connoting that they did not deserve to be punished even if the public would view them as sinners (Lk 13:2-3). It is not their fault that they were poor, and their seeming protests against authorities were just their last resort in getting across their message to a deaf and numb administration. He similarly fought for the poor pilgrims in the temple from the extortions of Judean traders, and he also sided with the Samaritans in their moment of social marginalization.

Henceforth, all our Gospels for this 3rd Sunday of Lent (Years A, B, and C) clearly direct us to deliberately take the side of the poor, marginalized and persecuted. It is high time that we give them their voice even if it means challenging the established hegemony that perpetuates corruption and oppression. It remains still our preferential option.

- Rex Fortes, CM