Listening for the Voice of Christ in the Health Care Debate

Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Joshua 24.1-2a, 15-17, 18b Psalm 34 Ephesians 5.21-32 John 6.60-69

If you’re anything like me, then your head is starting to hurt and your heart is getting heavy. Not perhaps because of any physical or medical problems, but because of a debate, a debate that has a very real impact on each one of us – the reform of health care in this country. Throughout the summer, but especially over the past few weeks, the health care debate has been heated, argumentative, and passionate – and for good reason, because any change affecting something as basic as health care impacts us all. The challenge – and what has made my head ache and my heart get heavy – has been sorting out fact from fiction, truth from lies, and determining not only what is best for any individual, but what is necessary for the common good. Now, I’m not here today to analyze the bills before Congress or to put before you a church-sponsored health care plan. But what we can do, together, is look at Scripture, look at our tradition, and look at basic human rights to set out some basic ethical principles for health care reform. And it all starts with today’s gospel.

For several weeks, we have been hearing about the Bread of Life in the Sunday gospels – the food and drink that Christ gives us, his very Body and Blood given in the Eucharist. These are hard sayings, the disciples say today. But Jesus points out that everything he has spoken to them is Spirit and life. If we want to live in the Spirit, then we need to listen to the words of Jesus. If we want to have life, and have it to the full, then we need to listen to the words of Jesus. If we want to know the truth, then we need to listen to the words of Jesus. He is the source of everything we have – he is the first and most important advisor we should go to whenever we have questions. And then, as we receive the Eucharist, as Christ’s words become flesh for us, we are given the responsibility of making Christ present in the world – not just here at church, but in our homes, in our schools and businesses, in our hospitals and nursing homes, and even to the halls of Congress. To live as a Eucharistic people, we must first listen to the words of Jesus, words that are Spirit and life, and then we must work to make Christ present through our words and actions.

And so we listen. First and foremost in a discussion on health care reform is the inherent value and dignity of all human life. The words of Christ are clear – all life is precious, it is a gift, and all human life is created in the image and likeness of God, from the moment of conception to a natural death. An ethical health care plan will respect the dignity of human life. Practically, this means that health care reform must not include mandated coverage for abortion, euthanasia, or other medical procedures that fail to uphold the sanctity of human life. Likewise, no health care reform plan should require anyone to pay for or fund the destruction of human life. Taxpayers’ money must not be used to fund abortion.

But a respect for life also calls for a plan that provides health care coverage for all people – health care is not a privilege for the few but a basic human right for all. To uphold the dignity of human life, made in the image of God, we are compelled as a society to provide health care that is comprehensive and affordable and that does not discriminate based on people’s state of health, place of employment, or where they live. Within that plan, there must be a special concern for the poor. Jesus spent more time in his ministry among the poor and the sick than any other group of people. Providing for the health care needs of the poor must be a priority – in fact, the poor should be our first priority. But there’s more. Our basic Christian values also call us to stand up for conscience protection, to maintain a variety of options in the choice and delivery of health care, and to do all this while restraining costs and distributing the cost equitably, while not denying health care to those who cannot afford it. And all of this is grounded in a basic respect for human life – all human life – a life given its very existence by God himself.

Health care is not just another political or public policy issue – it is a matter of basic human rights – and these same principles apply not just to health care, but to our entire common life as human beings. As the debates continue to swirl around us, we are called as followers of Christ to listen to Christ’s voice, first of all – a voice that fills us with Spirit and life. Then, strengthened and nourished by the Eucharist, we can become Christ’s voice in the debate – we can become a voice that speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves, a voice that puts human life and dignity at the forefront of the discussion, a voice that longs for peace and hope and love, a voice that points to the common good and not just what benefits an individual or a certain interest group, a voice of reason, a voice of conviction. In the cacophony of voices that overwhelm the media, there is only one voice that speaks the truth – we must never forget that. And to whom else could we go? Our Lord Jesus Christ alone has the words of eternal life. Listen to him.