3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Homily, 1/23/05

See the final text of the homily here at the OLA website. You can listen, too.

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Preliminary Notes. Please be aware that this is not a "draft text" for a homily, but my own thoughts as I am preparing. I welcome comments, suggestions, and further reflections.

Readings for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture References:

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
First Reading: Isaiah 8:23-9:3
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

This is also "Announcement Sunday" for Together in Mission. All the Presiders should try to direct their homily toward the theme of the TIM appeal. Commitment Sunday will be next week, and we will have a guest speaker.

The message of Paul to the Corinthians is so important today, with so many divisions increasing in our Church and world. It is Jesus Christ alone, not any ideology or label, whether "political correctness" of the "left" or "orthodoxy" of the "right," who is the foundation of unity. True unity will not be achieved by the victory of one way of thinking over another, but by all of us together hearing and submitting to the call of Jesus to follow him. What are the implications of this today?

It may be helpful to look at some of the religious and social ideologies that divided people in Jesus' day to shed some light on our own. Jenee Woodard's wonderful site, The Text This Week, can probably supply lots of resources for exploring this theme.

The homily notes for Together in Mission have this to say:

The gospel for January 23rd speaks of the light of Christ. He is living out the prophecy of Isaiah by bringing His light to replace the darkness that has overshadowed the lives of the people. Here, at the beginning of His public life, He summons those who will be His apostles. One of the common responses of those who heard His call is that they gave up almost all of their possessions to follow him. That fact is that it was probably easier to to that when you saw the face of Jesus, watched His miracles and heard His teachings directly from Him. It is, no doubt, a more difficult act of faith to hear His call and to follow His teachings 2,000 years after His death and resurrection.

(Frankly, I beg to differ with that. The Gospel accounts are pretty clear about difficulty even his closest followers had in recognizing and understanding him. We actually have 2000 years of experience of people doing this to help us. Sadly, lots of folks seem to ignore that, and try to reinvent the "Christian wheel," as if the literal text of Scripture were all we had to go on. Scripture has to be read in light of its origins as well as the lived expereience of Christians throughout the ages. TW)

"Come follow Me" takes on a whole new meaning in a society that is so inner directed ... a society that is all about "me." This attitude makes it difficult to recognize the light of Christ in our own lives much less in the lives of others. The challenge is to recognize what God has given us ... everything that we have and everything that we are. We need to look to the light of Christ in our lives. Then it becomes easier to see hwo blessed we are. Then, we must give a part of what have to further the spread of Christ's teachings to others.

The Together in Mission Campaign provides an opportunity to provide for ministry, education and services in the 32 parishes and 46 schools that will receive financial support from Together in mission this year. When parishioners receive the campaign mailing or are asked to make a pledge in the pews next weekend, they reflect the light of Christ in the darkness of these difficult times.

Uhm . . . Pretty insipid stuff IMHO. Certainly we can do better than that. Any comments?