Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 26, 2025 - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Nehemiah 8::2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Cor.. 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21]"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." [Luke]
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2025 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - C
[Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 2:1-4; 4:14-21]
"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." [Luke]
The hometown boy returns home and he has acquired, in the meantime, quite a reputation as a healer/teacher. So, expectations are high. He is invited to read the scripture for the synagogue gathering on the sabbath and he deliberately picks a passage from the prophet Isaiah foretelling a Messiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed me.... Then he gives what could be one of the shortest homilies in history: "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing!" One can imagine the audience thinking, "Doesn't he speak well? Wait a minute? What did he just say? Who does he think HE is? We've known him since he was a kid playing in his dad's carpenter shop!" The reaction of the audience is not given in today's passage, but it follows. They dare him to do some of the things they've heard about. Jesus confronts them with their unbelief and they try to run him out of town!
But the story is not just about Jesus. It is about any missionary disciple and especially about the "new evangelization" proclaimed by Pope St. John Paul II and his successors, Benedict XVI and Francis. This evangelization is not directed to non-Catholics but to baptized Catholics who have stopped practicing their faith. A recent survey suggested that the second largest Christian denomination in the USA would be "former" Catholics!!! Those folks will be a tough audience. They have "heard it all" and "got their sacraments" and for whatever reason, including bad preaching and moralistic judgmentalism, have abandoned the church. They may be going to other non-Catholic churches or to no church at all. They may be members of our own families!
This is not just about liturgical observance - going to Mass or devotional practices. It is about how everyday life is to be lived in love of God and neighbor. The Gospel According to Luke will later on recount the parable of the Good Samaritan. The priest and Levite (temple folks) pass by the robbers' victim. The Samaritan, despised by Jews, stopped to help. This is an example of the scriptures being fulfilled in someone's sight! Reaching out to our brothers and sisters who have become alienated from the church is the essence of the "New Evangelization." Their reaction may be, at first, negative, but our witness must be constant and consistent if we expect to fulfill the scriptures in their sight! AMEN
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