THIRD SUNDAY OF
ORDINARY TIME

 

First Reading (Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6,8-10)

 

It was now one hundred years that the people of Israel had been freed from their Babylonian exile and had returned to their country, but they hadn't succeeded as yet to organize their life well. There is still a lot of confusion: everybody does what he likes, there is a lot of stealing and violence, the poor continue to be exploited shamelessly. The king of Persia sends Ezra to Jerusalem, to find a solution to this chaotic situation. Ezra is "a priest-scribe, a student of matters pertaining to Yahweh” (Ezr 7:11). He tries to identify the reasons of evil and realizes immediately that the failure to keep the law is the root of all evil. The people do not fail to keep the Lord's commandments and precepts out of wickedness, but out of ignorance: they just don't know them any more. What to do?

On New Year's day he "brings the Book of the Law before the assembly consisting of men, women and all those old enough to understand and he reads it in the square of the Water Gate" (1-3).

The passage of today is the description of this first solemn celebration of the Word and contains useful suggestions also for our celebrations.

Let us see how Ezra organizes the feast of the Law.

1. First of all he calls an assembly of all people old enough to understand and "reads from the book from dawn till noon" (2-3). Nobody remains at home or seeks excuses to stay away to look after his affairs. Our Sunday meetings do not last hours, and yet there are there are so many Christians that stay away for idle reasons. These perhaps forget that the first task of every baptized is to nourish his faith together with the members of his community, and to hear the word of God.

2. Ezra organizes the meeting well, he is anxious that all details be planned for even if they seem of little importance. He prepares a wooden dais for the reader to stand on (4). Even now the animators of the Word in our communities must take care of these exterior aspects (line up the pews so that listeners can follow the reading well, choose capable and well-prepared readers, see that the public address system, where available, works well, etc.). A church where the faithful cannot listen to the readings because there is too much noise or the acoustics are bad is not a good place to celebrate the Word.

3. See the solemnity with which the rite begins: Ezra, standing higher than them all, opens the book with devotion and all the people stand up to show their veneration for the sacred text. Ezra proclaims the blessing and all the people answer "Amen! Amen!" and then all bow down and prostrate themselves (6-7). It is important also that the position of the body be an indication of our respect for what we are hearing. Aren’t there members of our communities who sit back in lolling attitude, or keep talking, or stand up at will and move around as if the church were a market place, forgetting that the Word is being proclaimed?

4. But reading is not enough. The word of God is to be interpreted and explained in simple language, understandable by all, be they intelligent or ignorant, educated or illiterate (8). The animators of the word have thus a great responsibility; they must begin studying the readings days ahead, if they want to explain them on the following Sunday; they must seek out suitable comparisons and images, identify practical applications to the life of the community.

5. The homily of Ezra obtains good results. The people make a thorough examination of conscience and realize that they have not kept the Law of God and manifest their will to repent (9). If we see that in our communities nothing ever changes, that nobody feels the urge to repent, that in our families everything goes on unchanged, this is a sign that the proclamation of the Word is done in an inadequate way.

6. The day of the meeting with the word of God is always a feast (10). The certainty that God keeps speaking to his people and continues to accompany and guide them is a source of great joy and this is manifested with songs, dances, and a great abundance of food and drink.

 

SECOND Reading (1 Cor 12:12-30)

 

The passage of today is the continuation of what we read last Sunday. To prove to the Corinthians that the gifts of the Spirit must lead to unity and never to rivalry or to compete against each other, Paul introduces a comparison well known to the ancients. He says: the community is like the human body, which is made up of many parts, each with its proper function. Every part of the body is important and none is to be despised or substituted by the other: the ears are not made to see, nor are the eyes meant to hold things, nor the feet to speak. Every part of the body has to stay in its place and carry out its function for the benefit of the whole.

The members of a community must behave in exactly the same way. Every one carries out his ministry, that is, a service for the good of the brothers. When rivalries, jealousies and envies appear, then the whole body of the community will begin to suffer and may even die.

In old times the comparison of the body was used to convince the subjects and the slaves to accept their state of submission and to serve their masters. Paul uses it in a very different way: he wants all the members of the community to be at the same level and enjoy equal dignity. If there must be a difference, he says, let this be a greater respect for the weakest, and more attention for the poorest (22-24). In the last part of the reading (28-30) we find a kind of classification of the charisms. The first surprise is that the charism of “guidance” or governing, that we always place as first, is only the last but one, followed only by the "various kinds of tongues", which, as we might expect, Paul places last. Which are then the most important charisms? Those related to the proclamation of the Word come first: apostles, prophets and teachers (cf Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:8-10; Eph 4:11).

What can we learn from this classification? Can the animators of the Word and the catechesis of the community (who are placed first in the list) feel more important and despise all others? Let us see: it is not that some members of the community are placed before the others proclaimed greater than others, it is the ministry they perform that is declared more important. There is no doubt that the service of the Word comes first since the faith and the life of the community come and are nourished by the Word (Rom 10:17).

Which services are most sought after by the members of our communities? Do all take their ministry as a service to be performed in a free and disinterested manner? Are there still some who think that the ministry gives them the right to feel more important than others? Are those who perform the service of the Word aware of their weighty responsibility?

 

Gospel (Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21)

 

During this liturgical year we shall be reflecting on the gospel of Luke, and we begin today with the first introductory verses (Lk 1:1-4).

Luke wrote his gospel about 50 years after the events and did not know Jesus personally. How can we he sure that what he says is true? Here is the reason: anybody can speak or write about Jesus, provided he is faithful to tradition. What does this mean?

We were at about AD 80 and the message of the gospel had been proclaimed throughout the Roman Empire. Communities had been formed all over the place and many had begun to put into writing the sayings of Jesus and the description of the events of his life. Where and from what had this successful religious movement started?

Events have taken place among us, says Luke (1). They are not dreams, or philosophical doctrines, or mysterious revelations, but facts, real events whose protagonist was a man: Jesus of Nazareth. What he did and taught is testified by eyewitnesses, who turned into "ministers of the Word", not "masters", but "servants of the Word" (2). They had not invented their stories, nor were they mystifiers going after money, or vagrants telling tall stories to foolish and credulous persons. They were people who dedicated their whole life to announce faithfully what they had seen and heard. They preferred death rather than modify a single word of the message of salvation they had received from their Master.

Luke considers himself one of these first witnesses and places himself among the disciples who, in the future, will still believe what they have been told. He states clearly and firmly that he is anxious only about one thing: the faithful transmission of what he received from the “ministers of the Word". He does not invent anything and has undertaken to “carefully go over the whole story from the beginning", that is, from the infancy of Jesus, in order to find what really happened (3).

The writer wants to prepare solid foundations for the faith of the Christians of his communities (4). But can we bring proofs to explain our faith? No. Nobody can be forced to believe that Jesus is the Lord through arguments. But faith on the other hand must not be seen as foolish credulity, it is not an option taken by people who are ignorant, without education or scientific knowledge, as some would like to think. There are very good reasons to adhere to Christ. And what are these reasons? Luke replies that to see them one must read carefully, page after page, his gospel. This is what we are invited to do this year. If we will attend all Sunday celebrations of the word of God, at the end we shall be even more convinced of the truth of what we believe. We shall also be in a position to give clear replies to anybody asking us about our faith.

The second part of today's gospel (Lk 4:14-21) is three chapters after the introductory verses we have just examined. They describe the start of Jesus' public life. One Saturday, during the celebration of the Word held in the synagogue of Nazareth, he announces the program of his ministry.

The main part of the liturgy of the Sabbath consisted in the reading of the word of God, done in turn by various members of the community. The first reading was always from the book of the Law (the first five books of the Bible), and then a second reading from the prophets. The president of the synagogue would then invite some adult person to comment. Jesus was then over thirty, and had attended the Celebrations of his community regularly and must also have commented the Scripture quite often. On that day he had no difficulty in accepting the invitation to speak (16).

Pay attention to the details since they are particularly significant: after the reading Jesus rolls up the volume, hands it back to the server and sits down. All the eyes are on him. All these details are important. At the time whoever sat down to instruct others was considered a master, a teacher, and Luke wants to tell us that Jesus is now our master; our attention must now concentrate on him alone, we must not look at anybody else. All the Old Testament books lead to him; once this goal is achieved they can be rolled up. Why should we then still read the Old Testament in our celebrations? Because they are indispensable to our preparation to listen to Christ.

The person appointed to read the second lesson could choose the text he wanted. Jesus takes some verses from the prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord is on me... He has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord." (17- 19)

Who is man sent to bring the good news to the afflicted and the poor? The text refers to a prophet that about 400 years before God had sent to console the Jews who had just returned from their exile in Babylon. The situation was very difficult because, though foreign oppression was over, other kinds of oppressions had taken its place: the rich were exploiting the poor, the masters were not paying their workers, the strong abused wretched (cf Is 56:10-57:2). The prophet felt empowered by the Spirit of God to denounce all this unjust behavior. All forms of slavery, he proclaimed, are about to disappear.

After reading text, Jesus begins his comment: "This text is being fulfilled today, even while you are listening." The time of liberation has come, the victory over all kinds of oppression is nigh, all fetters will be shattered, the blind will see again, the lame will walk, the poor will finally be able to rejoice and be happy.

The way Jesus explains the reading shows how a good homily should be. It must be, first of all, a proclamation of joy for what God has done for us, and then it should enlighten the concrete life situations of present day people, revealing where and how this salvation can be achieved and fulfilled. Jesus summed up his plan in these few words: liberation of people from any type of slavery. Today our communities must keep proclaiming this hope and thus continue his work. How do they carry out their mission? Do our communities open up the eyes of the blind, that is, the eyes of those wretched that many endeavor instead to keep unaware of their state of misery? Are they, like the Master, against any form of oppression? For instance: do they really work so that women may enjoy the same right as men, or so that girls may be free to decide if and when and whom to marry? Do the ears of those who attend our Sunday celebrations hear always and only words of salvation and liberation?

 

Theme of the Sunday
FOR A GENUINE ELEBRATION OF THE WORD

The first reading and the gospel are two excellent examples of how a genuine celebration of the Word should be. These two reading should draw our attention and reflection on how our communities perform their Sunday celebrations. Do they achieve their objectives? What is right and what must instead be changed?

The second reading could be seen as linked to this theme since Paul, speaking of the charisms, stresses the primary importance to be attached to the proclamation to the word of God.