January 27^th. THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

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

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

GOSPEL:                            Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21            
Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. 
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, 
to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, 
to set the downtrodden free, 
to proclaim the Lord's year of favour

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, 'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

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Don Fabio holds up this Gospel as an archetype for those who struggle to appreciate the significance of the liturgy. In this week’s Gospel, we see Jesus himself in a liturgical setting, and he shows us how we should behave in a liturgical setting. The Sacred Scriptures are not something to be read in an abstract way. After Jesus reads the passage from the prophet Isaiah, he says, “Today, this text is being fulfilled as you listen to it.” Every week, when we hear the word of God proclaimed to us, we must believe that the word is being fulfilled right now in our lives. The job of the priest giving the homily is to build a bridge between the text and our lives today, so that we can see how the text is coming true in our daily doings. And our job, whenever we read or hear the Scriptures, is to contemplate how that Scripture reveals the true meaning of my life, right now, in this moment. We must never read Scripture for Scripture’s sake, but in order that Scripture might help us to read the significance of our lives.

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Luke gives his reasons for writing the Gospel

The Sunday liturgy is divided into three years A, B and C. This is year C, the year of Luke, and in this week’s reading Luke’s sets down his reasons for writing the Gospel. “Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events . . ., exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses . . ., I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that you may learn how well-founded is the teaching that you have received.”

This is a precious record of the motivation behind the writing of a Gospel. The Gospel was written for a person, Theophilus, who in reality represents all of us, because we are all recipients of the Good News. And the Gospel is intended to demonstrate to us the soundness of the teaching that we have received. This is an interesting point. The Gospel comes after Theophilus receives the teaching about Christ. Theophilus does not first encounter Christ through reading the Gospel. Rather his first encounter is with the Church, which imparts to him the teaching about Christ. Sometimes we give too much importance to the scriptural accounts as if they were the origin of our faith. The origins of faith are rooted in the Church, and in the events which the disciples of Christ (who constitute the Church) experienced. Then the events are written down in an ordered way so that they make sense. Not everything is written down, only that which is relevant to the faith of the one who listens to the account. There is no need to write down secondary details of the life of Jesus. The Gospel text then is produced by the Church. It is not that the Church is a product of the text. St Augustine makes the same point: “Even if all the Bibles in existence were destroyed, it would not be the end of the world, because Christians would still exist.” Christians are the Scriptures incarnated. They are what bring life to the word of God, and in the end this is what counts. Theophilus needs to have a prior experience of this living encounter with the Church. Then, the written Gospel becomes his school, setting the relevant events of the life of Christ in order, with the purpose of educating him.

The first part of the reading for Sunday tells us why Luke wrote the Gospel. The second part tells us how we should approach this or any Gospel

The first part of the Gospel tells us why the Gospel was written and the general purpose it must serve in the life of Theophilus.  The second part of the Gospel gives us a concrete illustration of how the written word must be made relevant to our daily lives. What an amazing text for those of us who struggle to appreciate the significance of the liturgy! We see Jesus taking part in a liturgy; we see how he considers we should behave in a liturgical setting; and we are given a concrete illustration of how we should treat the word of God. Jesus goes into the Synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath as was his custom. He takes the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and reads the extraordinary text about the man sent to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the downtrodden and announce the year of the Lord’s favour. He then takes the scroll, puts it back in its place, and sits down. These detailed descriptions emphasize that here we are in a ritual setting. The fact that Jesus sits down recalls the fact that teaching in those days was always done while seated. Jesus sat down before giving the Sermon on the Mount, and he does the same here. The eyes of everyone are fixed on him and he begins to give his teaching. Of course, the Gospel text does not give us a full account of his teaching on this occasion. All that is recorded are the words, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” The homiletic technique of the Jews was to make connections between the text just proclaimed with some other text. Jesus, instead, goes straight to the point, beginning with the word Today. “Today this text is fulfilled.” The purpose of a homily, Jesus is telling us, is to make the text relevant today, to demonstrate how this text is referring to our situation as it is in this very moment. This is the fundamental purpose of a homily: to make words that were written two or three thousand years ago speak to my life as it is right now. The Psalm says “Your word Lord is a lamp for my path and a light for my steps.” The text that Jesus proclaims in the synagogue regarding liberation is referring to my liberation today. Many preachers analyse texts abstractly, seeking values or abstract meanings that are a temporal, “universal,” valid for all time. But Jesus wishes us to read the Scriptures concretely, applying them to things that are happening in my life right now. If the word of God is to be a “light for my steps” then I must not try to turn it into an abstract object of study. No-one lights a lamp so that they can contemplate the light itself; they light a lamp so that it will shed light on concrete things that need to be seen for practical purposes. Scripture is a light, but what counts are our steps, our lives, our situations today. Luke puts the events of Jesus life in order so that we might have faith and live it today. As Luke says, the account helps us to appreciate the teaching the Church has already given us; it helps us recognize the soundness of the teaching of the Church and aids us in following it.

We must read Scripture not for Scripture’s sake, but for the sake of reading our lives

Homilies are necessary because they make a bridge between the text and today. I need the body of Christ, which is the Church, to help me to make concrete that which I hear in the proclamation of the Scriptures. The Holy Father gives us an extraordinary example of how to illuminate our daily lives by confronting them in a clear and simple manner with the sacred Scriptures. None of us can hope to walk forward unless we have this light for our steps. We must read Scripture, not for Scripture’s sake, but in order to read life itself. By confronting our daily lives with Scripture we come to an understanding of ourselves, our problems, our joys, and the continual workings of the grace of God within us.

To apply Scripture to my daily life, I must look with the understanding, not just with the eyes, as if life could be reduced to just a series of fleeting events

Jesus gives us yet another clue as to how we should approach the sacred texts. “Today the text that you have listened to is being fulfilled.” The congregation is fixing Jesus with their eyes. They are looking for something visible, but Jesus reminds them that it is what is heard that is more important. The true meaning of things is perceived by the hearing, not by the eyes. It is not enough for me to see the things that are happening in my life. I need to understand their meaning. In this sense I must look with my “ears”, with my inner capacity for understanding. The proclamation of Scripture enters my ears and arrives at my heart, revealing to me the action of God in my day to day struggles. It is critical that we attain a perspective on our lives in the light of the word of God. What an amazing thing that this Gospel reveals to us! My life must be contemplated in an interior way. It is not just a series of events. Scripture can help us to uncover the true secret and meaning of our lives, and this goes far beyond what the eyes can see,