The Abbot's Homily for 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle C
2004

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	FIRST READING Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand. Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. He opened the scroll so that all the people might see it—for he was standing higher up than any of the people—and, as he opened it, all the people rose. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the Lord, their faces to the ground. Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read. Then Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep”—for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”
	SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many. If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body, ” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. Or if an ear should say, “Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.” Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the church to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
	GOSPEL Cycle C Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 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. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

My sisters and brothers in Christ, As we hear the readings this week, we can stand in awe at the faith of our ancestors. In the Book of Nehemiah, it is clear that the people believe and are just overcome with reverence and strong feelings when they hear the Word of God read out to them. They truly believe that it is God speaking to them in the word that is read. They are totally ready to renew their covenant with the Lord. Today we might say that they are really to sign a contract with God: “We believe in you; if you will be our God, we shall be your people. We will form our lives according to your Word.” In the Gospel, we have this account of Jesus preaching in the synagogue of his home town. We are at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel and the small section we read today only tells us that Jesus proclaims to his own people that the Scripture that He is reading is fulfilled right in front of them. We can only try to imagine his friends and neighbors trying to understand Him! Here is this young man, probably likable and normal for the most part—but now claiming that he is the fulfillment of the Scriptures of their religion. Both of these passages focus on the power of the Word of God. Both of the readings show us people who are willing to give their lives for their belief that God is present in these Holy Scriptures. We must ask ourselves today about our own beliefs. Sunday after Sunday or even day after day we hear the Sacred Scriptures or we read them on our own. Do we allow these Scriptures to have any power in our lives at all? How do we read the Scriptures? How do we listen to them? For Jesus, it is clear that the Scriptures are the Word of God. Jesus lives from this Word and all His life is formed by the Word of God. We don’t know how He studied Scripture or anything else about His early life. But when he emerges into the public eye, as he does in today’s readings, He is clearly formed by the Jewish Scriptures and is also clear about how He understands them. What about us? Are we formed by these Scriptures? Are we formed by the New Testament? So much of the power of the Holy Scriptures comes down to a simple challenge: Do we believe in God and believe that Jesus is God? With those two basic beliefs, the way that we read Scripture and allow it to form our lives is entirely different from people who do not believe in God nor believe that Jesus is God. So often today we meet people who want to be nice people and who find it impossible to believe in Jesus or even in God. Religion is seen primarily as a tool to make nice people or a tool for social control. Once people are civilized, psychologically balanced and have enough money, the don’t need belief or religion. There are even studies that show that as counties achieve a better standard of living and freedom, the participation in religion drops. That is happening now in the United States. We have to ask ourselves: Why do I participate in a Church? Is it out of fear of hell? Is it because that is the way that I was brought up? Or has it become truly a part of my personal belief and so I participate in a Church for the glory of God. Let us pray today that the Word of God can move us to tears! Let us pray that we will know the strength of God’s presence in His Word read to us! Let us ask that we can know personally the fulfillment of the Scriptures in Jesus Christ! He is our Lord and our God.