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The 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, January 26, 2025

Watch this homily! (begins at 36:02)

 
         I’m always happy when we get scripture readings that are easy to visualize. Some are, some aren’t; but I find it quite easy to picture today’s reading from Nehemiah and the one from Luke’s gospel, too.

         In the reading from Nehemiah, Ezra the priest stood up to read before an assembly much like this one - with men, women, “and those children old enough to understand.” (And I feel blessed whenever the assembly includes children who are not old enough to understand!). Ezra stood before the people in a place called the Water Gate (a name that will trigger a memory for those of us of a certain age!) - he stood on an elevated platform like this one so that the people could see him as well as hear him. And when he opened up the scroll to read from the Torah, the Law of God, the people, out of respect, stood up and listened with rapt attention.

         Now this was more than a routine Sabbath service at the local Synagogue. It was a Sabbath service at a time when religious practice among the Israelites was at a low ebb. They had just returned home after long years of exile in Babylon. During those years - far from home, far from the temple, far from all they held dear - God had seemed very far away. In fact, in some ways, during their time of exile God’s Law and the sense of God’s abiding presence had all but faded for them. So, when Ezra got up to read from the Law and interpret it, telling the people that God’s Law was a precious gift to them, not a burden, and reminding them of the Covenant God had made with them - they heard all this as if for the first time, and they were moved to tears. All I can think is that Ezra must have been one powerful and persuasive preacher!
 
         This gets me wondering. We have just begun a Jubilee Year that is being observed by the Church around the world. What would happen if, when we sat down for the readings during Mass – any Mass – and stood for the gospel, we were to hear God’s word as if for the first time, hear it like those people who had just returned home from Exile.

      Of course, we aren’t in exile. Or maybe we are. For isn‘t exile part of our story, too? Our Babylon isn’t a place on the map – it’s more a state of mind in which God can seem far away from us, and the gospel can seem more burden than gift. We do know a kind of exile. That’s one reason for this Jubilee Year, this Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Francis. Think of it as a year for re-ordering our priorities, a year for committing ourselves to a more vigorous, vibrant, and intentional practice of our faith. Now, if only we had Ezra up here to get our attention, to fire our imagination, and maybe even bring us to tears! (Alas, you’re going to have to settle for me!)

        In the reading from Luke’s gospel, Jesus did something similar. Jesus was visiting his hometown of Nazareth when the Sabbath came around. Like all good Jews, he went to the Synagogue and, like Ezra of old, he stood up in the midst of the assembly and read from the scroll that was handed to him.  In this case, it was a passage from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, a passage about how God would one day visit his people, bringing good news to the poor, freedom for the oppressed, and recovery of sight for the blind.  It was a glorious, liberating passage and one that had always filled the people with hope. But what they were not prepared for is what Jesus told them after he read it. “Today,” Jesus said, “today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing!” In other words, don’t think of this as a prophecy about some time way off in the future: it’s about now. It’s about today! And it’s about me! What Isaiah proclaimed long ago is happening right now!

         How do you suppose that sounded to the people of Nazareth? They knew Jesus, after all. They’d known him all his life. They had watched him grow up, seen him play with their kids, observed him working alongside Joseph, the local carpenter and handy man. They must have wondered who Jesus thought he was to be making that claim. But even so, Luke tells us that the people’s first reaction was very positive. They marveled at what he said and spoke favorably of him. That would all change rather quickly, but that’s another story for another Sunday. For now, we have Jesus in this riveting moment in which he appropriates a great and ancient prophecy to himself and the people marvel.

        My friends, both those readings are as much about today as they are about way back when. Like the people of Ezra’s time, words of hope and reassurance are addressed to us today in the midst of our exile, our anxiety, our apprehensions, our concerns. And, like Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth, we can make the claim that Isaiah’s great prophecy is being fulfilled in our hearing. Fulfilled in us! That’s because the same Sprit who lived in Jesus lives also in us, thanks to our Baptism, thanks to our Confirmation. The same Spirit who called Jesus to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives calls us to use our energies, our influence, our voices, our vote, to speak on behalf of the oppressed and the voiceless. And when we look at the present plight of so many migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers, we don’t have to look very far to find the oppressed and the voiceless, do we! To this point, I couldn’t help but take note of what Archbishop Broglio, the president of the US Council of Catholic Bishops had to say this week: As a nation blessed with many gifts, our actions must demonstrate a genuine care for our most vulnerable sisters and brothers – the unborn, the poor, the elderly and infirm, migrants, asylum seekers, refugees. The just Judge expects nothing else.”

         My friends, long ago, when Ezra stood before the assembly, the people listened and were so moved that they wept. Centuries later when Jesus did the same, the people marveled and expressed their admiration. But what about now?  Well, I’m not sure we need weeping, marveling, or admiration, but a firm resolve to take all this to heart and to do everything we can will make quite a difference. We have our work cut out for us. We really do!

Father Michael G. Ryan

 

 

 

 

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