Homily for 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A 2020
Isaiah 49:3,5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34
Introduction
"I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." That is the promise God gives the people of Israel through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah as we have just heard in our first reading. But what does this mean, to be a light to the nations?
I just came back from home in Uganda, where your priest Father Cyril is currently and like many less industrialized countries, our electricity is off more often than it is on. I was visiting Uganda with some friends from New Orleans and as luck would have it on their very first night, the power went out; no lights, no phone charging and no warm water for bathing. But my friends were a good sport and we quickly found flashlights, candles and kerosene lamps to provide light and life went on. And so one use of light is for us to see our surroundings.
But light has another purpose, that is, for others to see us. That is why we drive with our lights on even in broad-day light, so that other drivers can see us from a distance. That is why in olden days when they had primitive navigation systems, they had lighthouses with beacon lights to direct ships away from boulders and rocks, towards the safe port. And you know how moths are drawn to light, well in Uganda we also use light to draw another insect, the grasshopper, one of our great delicacies. And so, another use of light is to draw things towards itself.
It is in this second sense that the Lord tells Israel that he will make her a light to the nations; he wants her to be beacon light that will draw people to God; he wants her to be like the light that draws the moth towards it. And when nations are drawn to Israel, then salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.
Scripture and Theology
Unfortunately Israel did not always understand this particular calling. Sometimes they thought of themselves as being merely the chosen ones, the special ones, when in fact, they were chosen for a purpose, for a mission, to draw other nations to God. You might recall that Jesus had some difficulty in convincing the Jews that his message was intended not just for them, but for the gentiles as well, and for those on the margins.
Two Sundays ago we celebrated the Epiphany, which is really a feast that celebrates Jesus' manifestation to the whole world. If on Christmas Day he was introduced to the Jewish shepherds, on Epiphany the baby Jesus was introduced to the wise men from the other nations. That is why in the first reading on that day we heard Isaiah again tell the people of Israel that nations would "all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses." Isaiah basically expressed the fact that salvation was open to the whole world and it was Israel's privileged position to be the conduit by which it would be given.
The followers of Jesus and especially the apostle Paul, a Jew himself, and a devout one at that, understood this message very well. They took the good news to practically the ends of the world. Paul, for example, told the Ephesians that "that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." That is why Paul is called the Apostle of the Gentiles, dedicating his efforts and in fact giving up his life so the Gentiles may know the salvation that has been revealed in Jesus Christ. For the God of Israel is also the God of all nations.
It should therefore be very clear that God chose Israel and made her special, not in the manner of a teacher's pet, but because she would serve a purpose. That is what Isaiah means when he says: "You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory." And elsewhere Isaiah reminded Israel that "Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance." For as we know, a flashlight is shone, not to illuminate itself, but so that others can see better by it. And so, God chose them and worked through them, and sent Jesus through them, so that they would be a light for the whole world which God wants to be saved.
Christian Life
The Lord continues today to say: "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." But now he says those words to us Christians. Christianity unlike other religions, unlike the Judaism of the Pharisees, has never been a religion for a small few. Christ, his message and the church he founded all proclaim the universality of salvation brought and accomplished by Christ, a message that must be proclaimed to others. Like Isaiah reminded Israel, Christ reminds us that as Christians and even as Catholics we must not think of our special calling, as some exclusive badge of honour, but like it was for the Jews, as a mandate for action, to be a light that points to us so that others can see Jesus Christ in us. That is what Jesus means when he tells Christians: “You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world. . . . . your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father" (Mt. 5:13-16).
This is a message that Pope Francis has emphasized in spades. He never tires of reminding Catholics that we are not meant to be closed inwards, but are to be a light to the nations that the salvation of God may reach to the ends of the earth.
That is why he continues in the venerable missionary tradition of the Church. Despite being a young 83 years old he travels not only within Italy but literally to the ends of the world, not only to strengthen Catholics, but to bring the gospel to those who have not yet heard it. Just last year, he visited 11 countries: Panama, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Thailand and Japan. Some of you are probably wondering where are those countries, perhaps because few of them are on the top-ten tourist destinations or top-ten powerful nations? Others might wonder why the pope is visiting countries that are majority Muslim, Orthodox, Buddhist? Well Isaiah gave us the answer: "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." And many missionaries continue to do the same today, going even in countries where their lives are in danger, in 2018 forty of them giving up their lives for the mission.
Besides preaching the gospel with words, we also do so in action, especially by our works of charity, another favourite theme of Pope Francis. Think of the many Catholic organizations in the world, like Catholic Charities here at home and Catholic Relief Services abroad, serving many people who are not even Catholic. A lady who works for Catholic Relief Services in one of the Syrian Refugee camps in Lebanon explained to me that when a little Muslim girl receives her daily meals from people driving a van tagged "Catholic Relief Services" hopefully she begins to associate kindness and charity with Catholics and with Jesus. She said that the reason they feed her is not because she is Catholic, but because they are Catholic, not because she knows Jesus but because they know Jesus.
Conclusion
My friends as Catholics we can be tempted to think of ourselves as members of an exclusive club. Yes, every now and then, like we are doing now, we withdraw into our club and do our Catholic things like the sacraments, like the Eucharist we are about to celebrate, even our personal prayer. But we do this so that we can recharge, so that we can be like yeast and go out there to leaven up the whole world. That is why at the end of Mass, the priest dismisses us saying: "Go and announce the gospel of the Lord."
May our dream for God's kingdom not be myopic and narrow but just like Martin Luther King who we commemorate tomorrow, our dream must be expansive, dreaming that one day, all nations, all creeds, all peoples shall climb the mountain of the Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment