The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Mass for the 3 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Now, even though we call this season Ordinary Time, we all know the Mass is never ordinary, but today is special for another reason; Pope Francis designated the 3 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time as the “Sunday of the Word of God.” Here’s what he said in his Apostolic Letter, “The relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers, and sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians. Without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of his Church in this world would remain incomprehensible.” Consequently, Francis declared the 3 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the Word of God. Of course, we always hear the word of God through Scripture during Mass, but his hope is we also read it outside of Church. Well now, sounds like Pope Francis has given us all a homework assignment, doesn’t it? Take some time to read a little Scripture on our own, outside of Mass. Right now, however, let’s talk about today’s readings for a bit.
I’m not sure how many of you have ever heard of the American poet and writer Edwin Markham. His works espoused progressive social and spiritual beliefs in the early 20 th Century and they generally contrasted the pessimism characterizing most literature of that era. Even though you may have never heard of him you’re probably a little familiar with some of his work, like this except from his poem “Outwitted”; “He drew a circle that shut me out – heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in.”
So today, I think one of Markham’s other little poetic stories gives us something to contemplate as we talk about the Gospel reading, we just heard. He tells of a shoemaker who was told in a dream that he would see Jesus the very next day. The shoemaker waited in his store all day. The only one who came in the morning was an elderly man in tattered clothes. His shoes were worn out. The shoemaker gave him a fresh pair at no charge. In the afternoon an old woman came in. She was hungry. The shoemaker gave her his own lunch. As evening approached, a child came in crying bitterly. She was lost. The shoemaker took her home to the other end of town. Returning, he was certain he had missed his rendezvous with Jesus. Then he heard a voice. “I kept my word. Three times today I came to your door. Three times my shadow was on your floor. I was the beggar with bruised feet. I was the woman you gave food to eat. I was the lost child you took home.” And so today, in the Gospel, we heard what many scholars’ call, Jesus’ first public teaching and as we talk about it for the next few minutes don’t forget Markham’s little story.
The Church gave us this Gospel reading today in two distinct segments. We started with five verses from Luke’s 1 st Chapter and finished with eight verses from his 4 th Chapter. The brief introduction we heard makes Luke unique when compared to the other three evangelists. He presents us with both his motivation to write about Jesus in the first place and the techniques he used to gather facts for the story. He investigated accurately and interviewed eyewitnesses to present a friend with the complete story, so he too might believe in Jesus’ teachings. This is why Luke’s is the only Gospel where we hear words like; “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” You have to wonder how many hours Luke might have spent sitting and talking with Mary about things she pondered in her heart?
In the next part of the Gospel reading Jesus goes home to Nazareth. The news about the miracle at Cana had probably preceded Him. After all, Cana was only about five miles away. By the way, the population of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was not much different than the number of people we have sitting here in Church today. Consequently, His name was probably on everybody’s lips. A local boy making news. If he could do that neat trick in Cana, what might he do here, in his own backyard? On Sabbath morning, we can imagine Mary’s arm in her Son’s as they walked together to the synagogue. He would never miss Sabbath worship regardless of what town he was in. BTW, if you’ve concluded Jesus was telling us we should be at Mass each Sunday, you have broken the code.
You can bet the synagogue was packed to the rafters that particular morning. Predictably the presiding Rabbi invited the new hometown celebrity to read the Scriptures. He knew well if he had not, he might be lynched by his fellow townspeople. Jesus deliberately chose the particular passage from Isaiah that He wanted to share with His neighbors that morning. These are the first recorded adult words Jesus the Christ uses to start teaching His salvation message. The 61 st Chapter of Isaiah, oftentimes called by scholars, the Gospel of the Old Testament. The words of Isaiah would constitute the inaugural address of our Lord.
There is something very important today when we hear Jesus read from Isaiah, however. When we hear words like; poor, captive, blind, and oppressed, Jesus is talking as much to us right now as he was to his neighbors 2000 years ago. We all must ask ourselves, how often have I been spiritually poor, or spiritually blind, or captive to our secular culture, or morally oppressed? And then we have to ask, how often has it been my own fault? Jesus words are meant to be glad tidings for all of humanity throughout history but they also require us to provide an active response with our own lives. In today’s Gospel reading we don’t hear how His original audience reacted to the message. Their reaction is not important. The one that is crucial is yours and mine.
Christ allows each and every one of us to make up our own minds. As we contemplate what He said, we’re left to form our own personal responses to his words. Listen to the 16 th Century mystic, Saint Teresa of Avila though: “Christ has no body on earth now – but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now.” The shoemaker in Markham’s little story took St Teresa’s advice to heart. Today’s question is, will we?
