Is. 42:1-4, 6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Lk. 3:15-16, 21-22
The
Book of Isaiah contains four “Servant Songs.” This is the first. Isiah spoke about the messiah to come: “I
have endowed him
There are many
people who fought for justice and brought a change in the world. Rosa Parks was an
African American civil rights activist who became famous for taking a stand —
by sitting down.
On the evening of December 1, 1955, Parks
sat at the front of a bus in Alabama, heading home after a long day of work.
During her journey, she was asked by a conductor to give up her seat to a white
passenger. She refused and was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring
black people to relinquish seats to white people when the bus was full.
Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of
the Montgomery bus system. It also led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning
segregation on public transportation.
Manjunath Shanmugam was an IIM graduate and a
sales officer in the Indian Oil Corporation. His short-lived fight began when
he found out that 2 petrol pumps at Lakhimpur Khiri in Uttar Pradesh, were
selling adulterated petrol. He, as an officer, sealed the 2 pumps. However, he
later found out that the pumps had begun functioning again without his
knowledge. Manjunath, who had dedicated himself to the truth of this fuel
station and absolutely refused the selling of impure fuel, went to the pump one
day to confront the authorities. As a result of his going against them, the
people in authority of the pump shot Manjunath and killed him. A trust was then
started in his name, which continued to fight his case and got him
justice.
Govind Ragho Khairnar was a common man who went on
to become an officer in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). His fight
began against the corrupt system when he noticed illegal encroachments across
the city and brought them to attention. Due to this, he was suspended and brought
to trial for insubordination. However, he won the case in High Court and was
reinstated in his position in the BMC. Thereafter, he continued his battles
against the land mafias and land encroachments. The people recognized his fight
and gave him the title ‘One Man Demolition Army’.
The great
American Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy said this half a century
ago:
“The glory of
justice and the majesty of law are created not just by the Constitution – nor
by the courts – nor by the officers of the law – nor by the lawyers – but by
the men and women who constitute our society – who are the protectors of the
law as they are themselves protected by the law.”
At the beginning of his book, the prophet
Isaiah convicts a “sinful nation, people laden with iniquity”. The society he
describes is full of bribes, fixes itself on material wealth and denies justice
to the weak.
The prophet implores the people to “learn
to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for
the widow”. As Christians, we need to respond to this call. In our baptismal
covenant we enter into a sacred relationship with God through Christ Jesus. We
promise to continue in the Apostle’s teaching, that we will persist in
resisting evil, that we will proclaim the Gospel message in our words and our
actions and we commit ourselves to seeking and serving Jesus in all persons.
Today, as we each renew the vows we made
at our baptism let us recommit ourselves to living into those sacred promises.
Let us repent of our own failure to follow in the way of love and rededicate
ourselves to becoming Christ to the world.
Satish