Home
The
Community
at
Prayer
Reflection
by
Father
Paul
M.
Baca
September
6,
2009,
23rd
Sunday
in
Ordinary
Time
Click
to
see
the
readings
The
words
from
Isaiah
in
the
First
Reading,
"Thus
says
the
Lord:
say
to
those
whose
hearts
are
frightened,
'Be
strong,
fear
not,'"
express
the
feeling
that
so
many
people
are
experiencing.
There
seems
to
be
so
much
fear
mongering
in
the
air
and
considering
the
current
circumstances,
I
guess
there
is
reason
for
so
many
to
be
fearful.
But
perhaps
we
would
not
be
duped
into
that
fearful
mindset
if
we
read
on,
"Here
is
your
God
He
comes
with
vindication,
with
divine
recompense.
He
comes
to
save
you.
Then
will
the
eyes
of
the
blind
be
opened,
the
ears
of
the
deaf
be
cleared.
Then
will
the
lame
leap
like
a
stag,
then
the
tongue
of
the
mute
will
sing."
In
other
words,
we
need
to
be
reminded
time
and
again
of
the
many
possibilities
if
we,
the
human
family,
work
together
towards
the
right
end,
that
is,
a
just
society
living
in
peace
and
harmony
and
with
everyone
having
an
opportunity
to
live
with
dignity.
I
thought
I
had
heard
everything
about
health
care
for
all
and
its
possibility
with
all
the
pros
and
cons
expressed
by
people
who
could
make
a
difference,
then
came
the
current
issue
of
The
Atlantic,
which
raised
the
question,
"What
really
are
we
trying
to
accomplish?"
The
article
was
entitled,
How
American
Health
Care
Killed
my
Father,
and
it
had
nothing
to
do
with
the
current
battle
about
universal
health
care.
The
article
by
David Goldhill
starts,
"After
the
needless
death
of
his
father,
the
author,
a
business
executive, began
a
personal
exploration
of
a
health
care
industry
that
for
years
has
delivered
poor
service
and
irregular
quality
at
astonishingly
high
cost.
It
is
a
system,
he
argues,
that
is
not
worth
preserving
in
anything
like
its
current
form,
and
the
health
care
reform
now
being
contemplated,
will
not
fix
it."
The
author
says,
"My
dad
became
a
statistic
merely
one
of
the
roughly
100,000
Americans
whose
deaths
are
caused
or
influenced
by
infections
picked
up
in
hospitals.
100,000
deaths,
more
than
the
double
of
the
number
of
people
killed
in
car
crashed,
five
times
the
number
killed
in
homicides.
Another
victim
in
the
building
American
tragedy.
This
article,
well-researched,
is
enough
to
put
fear
in
the
bravest
of
us
about
going
to
a
hospital.
I
thought
of
the
words
from
Isaiah,
"Then
will
the
eyes
of
the
blind
be
opened,
the
ears
of
the
deaf
be
cleared,
then
will
the
lame
leap
like
a
stag,
then
will
the
tongue
of
the
mute
sing."
Are
we
being
had?
Is
God
deceiving
us
by
planting
the
seeds
of
hope
in
the
midst
of
such
great
human
needs
unfulfilled?
This
reminded
me
of
a
thought
by
St.
Dorotheus
of
Gaza,
"Imagine
that
the
world
is
a
circle,
that
God
is
the
center,
and
that
the
radii
are
the
different
ways
human
beings
live.
When
those
who
wish
to
come
closer
to
God
walk
toward
the
center
of
the
circle,
they
come
closer
to
one
another
as
to
God.
The
closer
they
come
to
God,
the
closer
they
come
to
one
another,
and
the
closer
they
come
to
one
another,
the
closer
they
come
to
God."
I
put
this
in
the
context
of
the
words
of
St.
Polycarp
of
Smyrna,
"When
it
is
in
your
power
to
do
good,
do
not
hold
back."
When
we
put
aside
loyalties
to
our
own
mind
fixes
and
opinions,
I
feel
that
everyone
would
be
in
favor
of
bringing
about
a
happier,
more
just
society.
This
would
result,
I
think,
in
our
focusing
on
what
we
want
to
accomplish.
The
whole
issue
of
abortion
is
a
case
in
point.
What
if
all
the
bishops,
right
wing,
Christian,
etc.,
declare
themselves
to
be
against
abortion,
then
it
seems
to
me
that
they
would
have
been
putting
their
efforts
into
finding
the
causes
of
abortion
and
trying
to
remedy
them.
If
all
members
of
the
human
family
would
put
their
heads
together
and
use
their
ability
not
to
have
their
own
way,
but
rather,
to
reflect
on
God's
will
and
work
towards
it
instead
of
trying
to
prove
that
their
way
is
the
only
way.
I
believe
that
there
are
solutions
to
all
the
problems
that
frighten
so
many
people,
but
the
solutions
depend
on
everyone.
I
was
pleased
to
read
in
the
aforementioned
article,
"Almost
a
week
after
my
father's
death,
the
New
Yorker
ran
an
article
by
Atul
Gawande
profiling
the
efforts
of
Dr.
Peter
Pronovost
to
reduce
the
incidence
of
fatal
hospital-born
infections.
His
solution:
a
simple
checklist
of
ICU
protocols
governing
physicians'
hand-washing
and
other
sterilization
procedures.
Hospitals
implementing
the
doctor's
checklist
had
enjoyed
almost
instantaneous
success,
reducing
hospital
infection
rates
by
2/3
within
the
first
few
months
of
its
adoption.
But
many
rejected
the
checklist
as
an
unnecessary
and
belittling
bureaucratic
intrusion."
I
thought,
There
was
a
solution
to
one
problem
and
rejected
by
many
for
their
own
reasons.
We
have
to
remember
that
God
works
through
us
and
we
must
be
willing
to
listen
when
facts
tell
us
that
our
strongly
held
opinions
are
not
the
way
to
go.
This
takes
courage
and
maybe
the
fear
of
what
will
others
think
of
me
if
I
allow
myself
to
back
away
from
my
mind-fixes.
Keeping
in
mind
that
God
works
through
us,
we
can
reflect
on
the
world
of
Psalm
23,
"The
God
of
Jacob
keeps
faith
forever,
secures
justice
for
the
oppressed,
gives
food
for
the
hungry.
The
Lord
sets
captives
free.
The
Lord
gives
sight
to
the
blind,
the
Lord
raises
up
those
who
are
bowed
down,
the
Lord
loves
the
just,
the
Lord
protects
strangers,
the
fatherless
and
the
widow
the
Lord
sustains.
But
the
way
of
the
wicked
he
thwarts."
A
real
trust
in
God
can
undo
fears.
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