5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2/6/05

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

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 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture References:

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The first thing that stands out for me is that, after giving the Beatitudes as the new commandments of the New Law, Jesus does not call himself “the light of the world” but he calls us, his followers the light of the world. (Interesting and significant that he did not say this to a select band of disciples but to “the crowds” – Matthew 5:1-2 is a bit ambiguous about this, but the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, 7:28, makes this very clear. What is the significance of this?) That’s so revolutionary I wonder how many of us really believe it. So few of us live that way. It takes a lot of faith, doesn’t it? I wonder what the world would be like if we did. Supposing we did make as the central, guiding principle of everything we say and do: “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” What would our world be like if we did that? How would your own life change?

The first reading is perfectly paired with the Gospel, because in it Isaiah shows the kind of “good deeds” that are needed in order to be light shining before all. Although found in “Third Isaiah” chapters 56-66), written as the “Book of Consolation” to the vanquished people straggling back from Exile to rebuild Jerusalem, these verses are part of a section more properly belonging to “First Isaiah” (chapters 1-39), which were address to the nation before exile, filled with pride and arrogance, heedless of poverty and oppression right within their midst. Any parallels in our society today?

In the second reading, Paul typifies the humility that is needed in order to be light, that is, to shine with God’s light, not one’s own. “When I came to you” alludes to the events recounted in Acts 17:16-18:11. In Athens, the philosophical and intellectual center of the world, Paul tried to use philosophical reasoning to teach about Christ to the Athenians; he failed miserably and was deeply humiliated. He went from there to Corinth, a port city about 50 miles west of Athens, a place renowned for its immorality. There he gave up attempts at logical argument, and simply placed the cross of Jesus Christ at the center of his witness in a spirit of humility. And he – or perhaps better, the Lord working through him – successfully established a thriving and vibrant community of Christians. The value of humility seems to be that it enables us to make sure it is the Lord’s light, not our own, that is shining through us.

There is an old saying, “You can’t attain humility without being humiliated.” What is your experience of humiliation? Do you let it make you humble, or do you get prideful and spiteful?