3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025 - Discovering ourselves through God's Words

 After having fasted and prayed for 40 days in the desert and facing the temptations of the devil, Jesus traveled to the synagogue of his hometown at the beginning of his public ministry. And there, as we heard in the Gospel today, the Lord read from the scriptures, a passage from the prophet Isaiah about the miracles that would accompany the arrival of the Messiah. 

Certainly, this is a fitting scripture passage for this particular weekend, as, a number of years ago now, Pope Francis designated the third Sunday of Ordinary Time as Word of God Sunday. We hear of Jesus himself reading from the Word of God. 

The scriptures play an important role in the life and ministry of Jesus. Again, as we heard today, he read and quoted from them publicly, as we do, every time we celebrate any of the Church’s liturgies. The Lord was raised in a family which cherished and lived out God’s word. The Holy Family celebrated the feasts prescribed by the scriptures, they adhered to the moral teachings found in its pages, they looked forward to the fulfillment of the prophecies of scripture, and they recited its beautiful poetry prayerfully in different moments of their lives.

Recall how Mary, upon visiting Elizabeth recited a lengthy passage of scripture, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, for he has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly”. Our Lady was reciting by heart a passage of the first book of Samuel—when Samuel’s mother, Hannah, praised God when she discovered she had been blessed with child after a period of barrenness. 

Jesus spoke about the scriptures in the course of his ministry, and he assumed that his audience was familiar with the Scriptures. On the Sermon on the Mount he says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven” 

So our Lord was immersed in Scripture, his family recited it, he recited it. The scriptures were the lens through which God’s people view the world, view history, and understand themselves and who they are called to be. 

Knowing this, it is not surprising to hear of our Lord opening the book of the prophet Isaiah in today’s Gospel, and explaining to people how this Scripture applied to what he was doing in their midst. 

Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised that there would be miraculous signs surrounding the coming of the Messiah: glad tidings would be preached to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery of the sight to the blind. And in his hometown synagogue, Jesus makes the claim that those promises were being fulfilled in Him.

Jesus explains to the people that what they see him doing is a result of his faithfulness to his Father, in obedience to His Father. He is living out the vocation, if you will, of who he is, and the work he was sent to accomplish.

Jesus shows us that the purpose of our existence is to live out God’s plan for us. This is what Jesus did…he lived out his Father’s plan for him to preach the Good News and to save us from our sins through his suffering, death, and resurrection. And the Word of God is clear, this is the vocation of every Christian: to live out God’s plan for our lives.

If the Word of God explains to us who we are and who we are meant to be, the big question is, are you doing that?  Are you pursuing the person God made you to be? Are you becoming the person that you hoped you would become—that God hopes you will become? Are the choices that you’ve been making lately helping you to develop your mind, your heart, and your soul?

In thinking of my own priestly calling, and I think I speak for most priests here, that our priestly calling never came in the form of a clear, undeniable message from God that his plan was that we should become a priest.

Rather, the priestly calling came as a result of listening to God’s Word and discerning how I could best pursue its promises. My own calling came at a point in my life when I was really trying to figure out how can I pursue the things of God,  And that question, led me to the seminary, where I was able to pursue God—in prayer, study, and service.

I can even tell you one of the scripture passages that led me to even begin asking that question. In Romans chapter 12, St. Paul says, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” And where do we find what is good and pleasing and perfect? The Word of God. Read the Word of God. Meditate upon it, consider what it means for the direction of your life, the choices you are making, the way you are treating people. The Word of God enables you to discern the will of God for your life. 

This is no doubt, why so many people in our modern age wander aimlessly, from empty pursuit to empty pursuit. It’s because they have not taken the Word of God seriously—so many are biblically illiterate. They have no power to discern God’s will over their own because they unaccustomed to the divine logic found in the pages of Sacred Scripture.

In the first reading, Ezra the priest, read the scriptures to a group of Jews who only just returned from exile. For over a hundred years, the Jews had lived and worked in Babylonian Exile. There, you can be sure that they did not have the opportunity to read or hear from their scriptures. They were cut off from their traditions, their history, their rituals, and their stories. They didn’t know who they were, or who God called them to be. They grew up only knowing the false gods and practices of Babylon—a culture which practiced child sacrifice, polygamy, and other corrupt practices.

Well, after a hundred years, God saw to their deliverance from Babylon. But returning to Jerusalem, what they found broke their hearts. They found Jerusalem, the once great city of God—devastated—the walls breached and broken, the great temple destroyed.

But then we hear of Ezra, gathering the men, women, and children. And he begins to read to them from the Word of God. He stood on a raised platform, and from morning until midday Ezra read the Torah from beginning to end:  Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.  For hours and hours the men, women, and children listened to their story, their family history, the laws which God had given them. They raised their hands in the air, and proclaimed, “Amen, Amen”.  And they bowed down to the ground and wept discovering who they were for the first time: they were the people chosen by God to manifest his greatness.

The story of Ezra and the people of Israel reconnecting with the scriptures, is a wonderful image of what the Church does every time we gather for public worship and the role of the scriptures in our private lives and our families. They help us rediscover every week, every time we open them, to who we are, and who God made us to be.

May we, in the words of St. Augustine, tolle et lege, take up and read, meditating upon its words day and night, that we may prosper in the sight of God, and discover his vocation and love for each of us, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Advent 2024 - Monday - Star and Staff

 During the first two advent weeks, we read predominately from Isaiah, the prophet of the Babylonian exile, and his promises to captive Israel of the coming Messiah. Well, our old testament readings over the next week will include a smattering of prophecies from the Old Testament; for Isaiah was neither the first nor the last of the prophets to foretell the Messiah’s coming.

We read today from one of the most ancient books of the old testament, from the Pentateuch book of numbers, one of the five books of moses. Numbers describes the wilderness experience of the Israelites as they wandered 40 years in the desert after departing Mt. Sinai. And after wandering for 40 years, the Israelites come to the plains of moab, on the east bank of the Jordan river. And there, a group of Israelite elders encounter a Moabite prophet named Balaam, son of Beor. And it is through Balaam, this non-Israelite, as we heard this morning that the God of Israel issues one of the very first prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

Balaam prophecies of a king who will defeat the enemies of Israel, who will know the thoughts of God, whose wells shall be over-flowing. 

Then, Balaam speaks of the king’s birth: “A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.” Here of course is a prophecy of the star of Bethlehem which would guide the Magi to the newborn Messiah. 

The “staff” signals that the Messiah would come from the lineage of a king of Israel—certainly an interesting prophecy, since Israel would not even develop a monarchy for hundreds more years. Additionally, to many of the ancient peoples, like the Moabites, stars were themselves considered divinities that watched over the earth. The coming of a star, then signaled a divinity being involved in the rise of this king. 

Little did Balaam or Moses know that this was in reference to the fact that the Messiah-King would also be God himself in the flesh. 

A star which would lead them to the presence of the one true God-made-flesh, the king of kings that would defeat the most ancient foes of Israel—sin and death. 

In the Gospel passage, the chief priests and elders question Jesus about the authority by which He acts and teaches. While they are unable—or unwilling—to recognize His divine commission, the earlier reading from Numbers reminds us that true authority comes from God and that God’s chosen one was prophesied long ago. The star from Jacob and scepter from Israel signify that God will raise up a ruler with legitimate authority, one who does not need to rely on human endorsement. Jesus, in refusing to disclose the source of His authority to the questioners, indirectly highlights that His authority is neither borrowed nor dependent on human recognition. Instead, it is rooted in the divine plan revealed through the centuries. 

In these final Advent days, let us grow in wonder and awe at the God’s plan to deliver us, and deepen our love for Jesus the Messiah, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the Church: That in these remaining days of Advent, the Church grow in  greater wonder and awe at God’s saving plan.

For all peoples and nations and that leaders may be guided by divine wisdom, working to bring about justice, peace, and the dignity of every human person, as they acknowledge the true authority that comes from God alone.

For those who struggle to believe: That the star of God’s truth may shine upon all who wander in doubt or darkness, leading them to encounter the Messiah who fulfills the deepest longings of the human heart.

For our parish: That as we reflect on the divine authority and kingship of Christ, we may grow in reverence, deepen our love for the newborn King, and await His coming with joyful expectation.

For those who are sick, weary or burdened: That in moments of hardship and uncertainty, they may draw strength from the promise of a Messiah-King who defeats sin, brings overflowing blessings, and comforts those who suffer.

For the faithful departed: That they may be welcomed into the fullness of God’s kingdom, especially, N. for whom this mass is offered. 

Gracious Father, you have guided your people through centuries of waiting and longing. Hear our prayers today, and lead us ever closer to your Son, the Messiah foretold by prophets and revealed in the humble stable of Bethlehem. Through Christ our Lord.