January 24^th 2016.  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

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

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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

Kieran’s summary . . . Jesus announces that he has come to open the eyes of the blind, bring liberty to captives and usher in the year of God’s favour. When we hear this passage, do we think it applies to someone else? I am not poor, blind and oppressed, or am I? Don Fabio tells us that whenever I hear God’s word, I must allow it to penetrate my heart and speak to me. It is not me who interprets Scripture; Scripture interprets me. If I approach the word of God with my preconceived ideas, it will become opaque. Instead, I must listen to the word with openness and humility, allowing it to speak to me personally.  Then I find that Scripture penetrates to the poor, oppressed and blind parts of my life. It opens my eyes, frees me from my slavery, and consoles me. The word of God is always challenging! It is not designed to confirm me in my weaknesses! It makes me feel uncomfortable, challenges me, casts down my pride, sheds light on my darkness. The word of God, thus, as well as comforting the afflicted, must afflict those who are consoled. It gives light to blind, but blinds those who think they can see. It is impossible to teach someone who thinks they know it all. Whenever I hear Jesus’ words, I must desist from thinking they apply to someone else. I must stop interpreting them with my preconceived notions. God’s word must be heard with humility, allowing it to transform the blind, oppressed and poor areas of my existence.

 Sunday’s readings are all about our relationship with God’s word. Does God’s word penetrate my life? Does it have any influence on my daily actions?

Sunday’s Gospel has the opening lines of Luke’s Gospel, in which the Evangelist states his motive in writing the Gospel. He wishes to demonstrate to the reader, whose name is Theophilus, the solidity of the teachings that he has received. Whenever we receive teaching, we like to be sure that it is something sound, that it is something which, as the Greek expression describes it, will not cause us to slip. Life is a precarious journey and we need teaching that will help us to walk surely – as the psalm says, “a lamp for my steps and a light for my way”. The theme of Sunday’s readings, in fact, is the relationship of the word of God with our lives. Is the word of God important for me? Why does the church proclaim the word of God?

The word of God has a dual aspect: it makes us feel uncomfortable and it leads us to joy

In the first reading from Nehemiah, we hear how Ezra reads publicly the book of the decrees of the Lord, a book which has just been rediscovered after many years. As the people hear the words, they reflect on their lives and begin to weep. Ezra responds by telling them that this is a day for rejoicing, not for weeping! The Gospel reading demonstrates the same double element of sadness and joy. After the introduction in which Luke sets down his motive for writing, the scene shift to the extraordinary first public appearance of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth. We read the first part of this episode on Sunday and the second part the following week. Just as occurred in the first reading, we see the same double reality of the word of God making people feel uncomfortable, but yet leading them to joy – heading for a feast, but passing through suffering. The truth is like this: it makes us free but wounds us. The truth reveals the deceit in our hearts but allows us to go in the right direction.

Scripture is not something that we read and we interpret: it is something that reads me and interprets me. If we approach the word in a self-conceited way, then it will become dense and opaque. If we approach it with openness then it will confront me, challenge me, transform me.

Jesus reads the consoling words from the prophet Isaiah: good news for the poor, sight to the blind, liberty to captives and the year of God’s favour. Everyone looks at Jesus to hear how he will interpret the text. The key of interpretation he gives is: “Today this text is fulfilled in your hearing”. The word of God should always involve the task of interpreting my today. It is not me who reads Scripture: it is Scripture that reads me. It is not me who should be concerned about interpreting the word: it is the word that ought to be allowed to interpret me. I must allow it to explain my life. If we approach Scripture expecting it to provide us with a certain answer, then it tends to close up before our eyes. It has inexplicable mechanisms that render it opaque if we approach it in this way. Whenever we approach the word of God with the attitude that we dictate the rhythm, then it ceases to speak to us. But if we allow Scripture to sound the drumbeat, then we enter into a whole new realm of understanding. In the Gospels, when Jesus is asked a question, he often responds with another question. He does not accept the parameters that are being imposed by the questioner. That might seem like bad manners on his part, but it is absolutely necessary. The word of God is something that should cause us to change our perspective. This makes us feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. It contests our habitual way of looking at things. If we look at the entire episode from Luke’s Gospel, we discover that Jesus’ announcement leads to great opposition.

We must allow God’s word to speak to the blind, poor and oppressed parts of our lives. God’s word is not designed to confirm me as I am already: it aims to transform me, to open my eyes, cast down the pride within me and raise up that which is humble and genuine

The good news about liberty, sight and God’s favour is not welcomed by the people. The announcement that the poor are consoled, the blind healed, and the oppressed liberated seems to imply that the hearers are poor, blind and oppressed! In other words, Jesus is saying, “It’s not true that you’re doing well just as you are”. How often we listen to God’s word without welcoming it into that area of our lives that is blind, captive and poor. You cannot teach anything to someone who knows it all. It is only possible to teach when someone knows they are ignorant and they are disposed to being transformed. If we offer sight to someone who thinks they can see, or liberty to someone who thinks they are free, they can take offence. The word of God, thus, as well as comforting the afflicted, must afflict those who are consoled. It gives light to blind, but blinds those who think they can see. In various places, the Gospels tell us that these challenging things must be done to us by God. Whenever we read the Scriptures, or hear the word of God proclaimed to us in the assembly, we are challenged to walk in the light of the wisdom of God; we are challenged to allow ourselves to begin to be transformed. The word of God is something that transfigures us and it helps us to see the invisible. It is not something designed to help confirm our pre-set ideas! It must make us cry so that we can enter into the feast; it must humiliate us so that we can be exalted. As Mary says in the Magnificat, the word of God is something that brings down the proud and raises the lowly. Whenever I place myself before the word of God I ought to think, “Now I will read this passage, pray, and allow the afflicted within me to be consoled and the consoled within me to be afflicted. I will allow the humble to be exalted and the proud to be humiliated”. These two aspects are always in me, the ignorant one and the one who thinks they know it all; the poor blind person, and the person who thinks they can see.