Homily Ordinary 3C: Going back to the sources

 Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Introduction

The catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina remains forever etched in the minds of many New Orleanians and for others in our area, the more recent Hurricane Ida.  I bring up these tragic events because they have some similarities with what is happening in our first reading today.  What is a person of faith to do after a disaster?

Scripture and Theology

The book of Nehemiah, from which our reading comes tells the story of the restoration of the Jewish nation after their exile in Babylon, when they returned home and found a total devastation of their homeland. This story is told by the books of Nehemiah and of Ezra, the two principal figures behind this restoration.

·        First, much like the hurricanes destroyed our area, the Jewish people returned to find their Holy City of Jerusalem destroyed by its conquerors.

·        Second, their sacred temple was destroyed, much like our secular temple the Superdome was left in tatters after Katrina.

·        Thirdly, the walls of the Jerusalem were also destroyed, again like our levees that had been breached.

·        Most of all, it was not just the physical structures that were in ruins, but also the spirit of the community, what it meant to be a Jew was no longer there, much like the spirit of New Orleans was lost. 

And so, these two men, Nehemiah a lay man who served as the political leader, and Ezra, the priest who served as the religious leader, worked to restore the nation, restoring both the physical structures and the spiritual identity of the nation. 

But how did they do it?  How did they restore the nation?  While for us New Orleans, what helped restore our spirit was our great food, our music, and the return of our beloved Football team, the Saints, for the people of Judah, they turned to the Bible.  Yes, they read the Word of God.  They chose to go back to the Book of the Law that described who they were and what their obligations to God were.  We heard that everybody assembled to hear the priest Ezra read the Word of God, "men, women, and those children old enough to understand."  And how long was this reading?  "He read out of the book from daybreak till midday."  Do you realize how good you have it, that my homilies are only ten minutes long, and that you are sitting, not standing in the sun for the Mass which also lasts no more than an hour.

But why go back to read an old book, to read those old instructions?  Every nation worth its name has its founding principles.  For example, when the founding Fathers of the United States of America founded the nation in 1776, they laid down certain fundamental principles to guide the nation.  These principles are written in the Constitution.  Of course to this original document have been added over the years other foundational principles.  For example, in 1865 the thirteenth amendment was enacted to abolish slavery and in 1920 the nineteenth amendment expanded voting rights to women.  The Constitution is very sacred to Americans, because it lays out what it means to be an American nation.

That too is the reason why when Nehemiah and Ezra wanted to rebuild their nation, they turned to the Source, the Law of God as given to them in the Bible.  For while they could build all the physical structures they needed, without a spiritual foundation, they would not be a Holy people of God again. 

The initial reaction of the people to the reading was very powerful.  We heard that "all the people, their hands raised high, answered, 'Amen, amen!'" essentially agreeing with what Ezra had just read, since Amen means, "let it be so."  But in addition, "all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law."  Perhaps they were touched when they heard, some perhaps for the very first time, who they were, how much God had loved them, how much he cared about them, how all he asked was for them to be faithful to him, to follow his laws and dictates.  For they had been in exile and perhaps thought that God had gone back on his promises.  The Book of the Law renews their hope.

Similarly, today's gospel also tells us about the power of God's word.  Luke begins his gospel by explaining why he is writing down these things. After admitting that others have written gospels, he writes: "I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received."  Luke wants this man Theophilus, probably a Roman official or a prominent person of the time, to whom he dedicates his writings, to know the foundations of the Church in the life of Jesus Christ.

Today's gospel went on also to describe the beginning of Jesus' ministry. When asked to do the reading and preach at the synagogue on the Sabbath he reads from the prophet Isaiah, which says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."  Jesus then borrows these words of Isaiah, which the prophet had used to give hope to the exiled people of Israel to introduce himself and his mission.  And then he concludes: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Christian Life

My friends, a few years ago Pope Francis asked the Church to celebrate today’s Sunday, the Third Sunday of the Year, as the Word of God Sunday.  Like Nehemiah and Ezra, he would like to us be reminded of our founding document, our founding principles, our origin story.  We must learn to appreciate God’s Word, something which we Catholics are not often known to do.

I am reminded of a story about a priest visiting a Catholic family – in a parish far, far away.  And while visiting the family posed a question to him.  He then asked for their family Bible so that he could refer them to a passage that would answer their question.  When they handed him the big old bible, on opening it, some reading glasses fell out.  That is when the dad blurted out: "I have been looking for those glasses for more than a year now."

Do we read our Bible often enough?  Do we go back to it, to be fed by God’s Word and inspired for action by it?  St. Paul writing to his protégé Timothy tells him:  "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Do we equip ourselves for good work by turning to Scripture?

And yet as Catholics, we don’t read Scripture in an individualistic manner.  We read the Bible within and with the Church.  We are helped to understand it by both our forerunners in the faith and by those who have carried on the Tradition of the Church.  While the Protestant only reads his Bible, the Catholic reads both the Bible and the Catechism which helps him or her understand what he is reading, in the same way the deacon Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch understand what he was reading.

Also, as Catholics our reading of Scripture is complemented by the Eucharist.  What we hear with our ears, that the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose for our salvation, we actually experience when we celebrate the Eucharist, the memorial of his death and resurrection.  That is why our Mass has both the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Word and Sacrament go hand in hand.

Conclusion

I will leave you with God’s Word itself. How could we forget the injunction of the Letter to the Hebrews which says:

Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart (Heb. 4:12).

But we will give the Last Word to God himself who through the mouth of Isaiah tells us:

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11).

May God’s Word be the force that convicts and moves us to action.  And may all we do find its beginning and end in God’s Word.