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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

January 26, 2025

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
direct our actions according to your good pleasure,
that in the name of your beloved Son
we may abound in good works.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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

All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So the Levites read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then Ezra said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 19:8,9,10,15

R/. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Second Reading 1 Cor 12:12-14,27

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body —Jews or Greeks, slaves or free— and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Alleluia cf. Lk. 4:18

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

Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. 14 Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, Jesus went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” 20 And Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Catena Nova

If scripture is true, it was not only to the Jewish congregations of his own generation that our Lord spoke. He still speaks to us assembled here today—and not only to us, but to other congregations also.... Here too in this synagogue, that is, in this present assembly, you can at this very moment fix your eyes upon your Savior if you wish. Whenever you direct your inward gaze toward wisdom and truth and the contemplation of God’s only Son, then your eyes are fixed upon Jesus. Blessed was that congregation of which the Gospel says, “All eyes in the synagogue were fixed upon him!” How I long for our own assembly to deserve the same testimony; for all of you, catechumens as well as the faithful, women, men, and children, to have your eyes, not those of the body but of the soul, turned toward Jesus! When you look at Jesus your own faces will become radiant with his reflected glory, and you will be able to say: “The light of your face has shed its brightness upon us, O Lord!” To you be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Origen of Alexandria)

The scope of our art [preaching] is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it to God, and to watch over that which is in his image—if it abides, to take it by the hand; if it is in danger, to restore it; if it is ruined, to make Christ dwell in the heart by the Spirit; and in a word, to deify and bestow heavenly bliss upon one who belongs to the heavenly host. (St. Gregory Nazianzen)

It must be pointed out to the preacher, if he is to cause his people profit and not to embarrass himself with vain joy and presumption, that preaching is a spiritual exercise rather than a vocal one. For, although it is practiced by means of outward words, its power and efficacy reside not in these but in the inward spirit. Wherefore, however lofty be the doctrine that is preached, and however choice the rhetoric and sublime the style wherein it is clothed, it brings as a rule no more benefit than is present in the spirit of the preacher. (St. John of the Cross)

People have an idea that the preacher is an actor on a stage and they are the critics, blaming or praising him. What they don’t know is that they are the actors on the stage; he (the preacher) is merely the prompter standing in the wings, reminding them of their lost lines. (Søren Kierkegaard)

A church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in. (St. Oscar Romero)

Show me the suffering of the most miserable;
so I will know my people’s plight.
Free me to pray with others;
for you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life;
so that I can be free at last.
Grant me the courage to struggle for justice;
for in such struggle there is true life.
Give me honesty and patience;
so that I can organize our community.
Bring forth song and celebration;
so that the Spirit will be alive among us.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow;
so that we will never tire of the struggle.
Let us remember those who have died for justice;
for they have given us life.
Help us to love even those who hate us;
so we can change the world. Amen. (Cesar Chavez)

The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story of Jesus will not always be accepted, but it must be told. (Henri Nouwen)

Homily

It's always fun to read Vatican tea leaves. For example, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego to be the new Archbishop of Washington on January 6 — hardly a coincidence — right after the incoming administration named a frequent critic of the pope to be the new US ambassador to the Vatican. Nor is it a coincidence, by my reading, that the cardinal turns 71 next month and therefore would be handing in his resignation at the age of 75 in just four years. Get the message?

Now McElroy is clearly a "Francis bishop" on board with the pope's concerns for the environment, for migrants and for a more inclusive church. As such, he may well prove a frequent critic of presidential policies, one of which has already earned the ire of Pope Francis, who called planned mass deportations of immigrants "a disgrace because it makes the poor unfortunates who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved" (January 19, 2025). McElroy's Episcopal counterpart, Bishop Mariann Budde, got a head start over him during Tuesday's prayer service at the National Cathedral. During her homily, she addressed the incumbent as follows:

Millions have put their trust in you…. I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families — some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.

I ask you to have mercy…on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people — the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen. (January 21, 2025)

And today, liturgical providence provides us with an inaugural address unlike the one we heard on Monday, delivered this time by Jesus of Nazareth the day he opened the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and announced the theme of his public ministry: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord (G).

In doing so, Jesus was evoking the memory of the biblical jubilee year. Something the Catholic Church echoes every quarter century with a holy year of its own, the current one having opened on Christmas Eve. As Pope Francis wrote when announcing the jubilee,

This is an ancient appeal, one drawn from the word of God, whose wisdom remains ever timely. It calls for acts of clemency and liberation that enable new beginnings: “You shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” ( Lev 25:10). This institution of the Mosaic law was later taken up by the prophet Isaiah…[whose words] Jesus made…his own at the beginning of his ministry, presenting himself as the fulfilment of the “year of the Lord’s favour” (cf. Lk 4:18-19). (Spes non confundit; May 9, 2024)

The official website for the holy year explains further:

a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields. (https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/giubileo-2025/segni-del-giubileo.html).

I leave it to your judgment how much or how little the events of the past week are likely to conform with the ideals of this Jubilee Year whose theme Pope Francis has taken from Paul's words "hope does not disappoint" (Rom 5:5). About which he said:

This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of… Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone. (Letter of February 11, 2022;

(https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/02/11/220211c.html).

Let us hope, indeed.

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website)

For the Church: that we may recognize our identity as members of the Body of Christ and manifest the Good News in our lives, our families, and our workplaces.

For openness to the Holy Spirit: that we may nurture and develop the gifts that the Spirit has given us and use them to build up the Body of Christ and in service of others.

For greater attention to God’s Word: that we may recognize the words of scripture as sources of Spirit and Life that will help us live more fully and faithfully each day.

For the members of Congress: that the Spirit will move them to greater cooperation, guide them in addressing the greatest issues in people’s lives, and inspire them with ways promote the common good.

For all who steward earth’s resources: that we may recognize all of creation as God’s gift to us and grow in awareness of our responsibility to care for the earth.

For all who struggle with emotional and mental illness: that they may come to know a time of God’s favor and receive peace and relief from their struggles.

For all who are ill: that the healing mission of Jesus will continue through our care for the sick, and may they experience support and assistance from their faith community.

For peace and a reduction in international tensions: that God will give all leaders a bigger vision, remove fear from their hearts, and reduce arms.

Lord God,
whose compassion embraces all peoples,
whose law is wisdom, freedom, and joy for the poor,
fulfil in our midst your promise of favour,
that we may receive the gospel of salvation with faith
and, anointed by the Spirit, freely proclaim it.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen (ICEL; 1998)

Offertory Antiphon

Offertory Hymn (J. Michael Thompson)

Returning from their exile drear,

God’s people gathered in the land

And, urged by Ezra’s preaching, turned

From foreign ways to God’s command.

Like Ezra, Jesus spoke God’s word

In midst of people gathered round,

Proclaiming God’s redeeming love,

Which frees, and lets the lost be found.

Each Christian, formed by God’s rich Word,

Is of one Body vital part

And called by Christ to exercise

Their gifts with talent and with art.

Rejoicing, let Christ’s Body seek

To live our common calling out,

That, baptized in the Spirit’s grace,

We God’s good news will daily shout!

Communion Antiphon

Closing Hymn (John Michael Talbot)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
And to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captive,
And to set the prisoner free,
To announce a year of favor of the Lord
To comfort all who mourn.

The Spirit of God
Is upon me
The Spirit of God
Has anointed me
The Spirit of God
Now does send me
To the poor, to heal the brokenhearted.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

People have an idea that the preacher is an actor on a stage and they are the critics, blaming or praising him. What they don’t know is that they are the actors on the stage; he (the preacher) is merely the prompter standing in the wings, reminding them of their lost lines. (Søren Kierkegaard)

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