HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Jan 26, 2025

523

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of the 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!"

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (19:8, 9, 10, 15)

(R) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (R)

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye. (R)

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just. (R)

Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the 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?

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to 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."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

According to the Bible, about 600 years before Christ, the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple built by King Solomon and burned the city, and deported the Jewish people to Babylon; an event known as the Babylonian exile. But when the Persians defeated the Babylonians seventy years later, King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and the city. In 536 BC the first group of returnees under the leadership of a man named Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple and reinstated worship. About eighty years later, a second group, led by a priest called Ezra, returned to their homeland and began the spiritual and religious reformation. Finally, in 444 BC, Nehemiah, a Jewish leader and high-ranking official in the Persian empire returned with the third group of the exiled people and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

After having rebuilt the temple and the protective walls around Jerusalem which ensured the security and safety of their lives and assets, "all the people gathered together with one accord in an open space and asked Ezra to read God's Word, particularly the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to them", Nehemiah (8:1). During their exile, the Jews had been unable to truly and fully worship their God, Yahweh. They were forbidden to observe many of their traditional religious practices and they were forced to adopt Babylonian religious customs. They had no access to the Torah, or Jewish Written Law that contained the main laws and teachings of the tradition given by God through Biblical figures, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. For most of them, whatever they knew of their religion came from their memory or oral transmission. So, believing that it was time to bring spiritual transformation and renewal among them, they themselves requested Ezra to read the Law to them.

Today's first reading from the little-known book of Nehemiah of the Old Testament narrates Ezra's response to their request, Nehemiah (8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10). Ezra brought the Law before the congregation consisting of "men, women, and children who were able to understand", which implies that nobody was excluded from this gathering. As a sign of reverence for the Word and Ezra, all the people stood. As he opened the scroll to read, he said a short prayer of blessing to God. It was perhaps a form of praise and thanksgiving to God who was the author and giver of the Law. In response, they raised their hands high and shouted, "Amen, Amen", meaning, "so be it" or "I agree", signifying their collective spiritual agreement with the Law. Then as an indication of their recognition of God's sovereignty and their desire to submit themselves to Him completely, "they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground", (vv.5-6a).

Then Ezra read the Law aloud and explained it to the people for several hours. On their part, the people not only eagerly listened to God's Word being read and explained, but they also clearly understood its meaning and implications so much so that they were overcome with the realization of the depth of their shared experience of God's love and faithfulness. After years of separation as a people and nation, they realized, while listening to God's Word, how far they had forgotten and disobeyed the laws of God. They were so overwhelmed that they began to weep. But Nehemiah, Ezra and other priests comforted them saying that it was a time for them to come together in worship and thanksgiving, acknowledging God's role in their lives and history. They urged them to cease mourning and rejoice and celebrate with food and drink as expressions of joy and gratitude to God. They also encouraged them to share portions of food with those who had nothing prepared, emphasizing the importance of community, generosity, and serving others during times of rejoicing for rejoicing in God in the manner prescribed in His Law or serving Him with cheerfulness and thankfulness was their strength.

What is the message for us?

The Israelites were not coerced or forced to come to the assembly so they could hear God's Word. Rather they themselves willingly came together and asked Ezra to bring the Law of God and read it out for them. Their unity, love and eagerness for God's Word must stir within us the same love for it and prompt in us a desire to study the deeper things of God so that we might know Him better and adore Him more. May we wake up with the eagerness to open and read the Bible every day, understand it rightly, and put it to work in our life, making it a guide and a safeguard for everything we do.
Just as the Israelites showed deep reverence both to the Word and Ezra, we too must have the utmost respect and reverence for God's Word and its readers, including lectors and priests, especially when it is read at our community worship such as Holy Mass, so as to experience God's best in our lives. As Catholics, we do observe this practice during the Mass to some extent. We sit for the first one or two readings, the responsorial psalm and homily but remain standing while the Gospel is read. Because, unlike other readings at Mass, the Gospel contains the very words of Jesus as remembered by the Apostles and recorded by the evangelists. By standing for the Gospel, we express our profound honour and respect to Jesus both in the person of the priest and the Scriptures. So, as the Gospel is being read, let us listen to Jesus and His teachings with reverence and fear, with sincerity of heart and full assurance of faith. Also, may our response to every Word we read or hear be like that of the Israelites: a free, joyful and sincere assent and resounding "Amen", or "Yes", or "Praise and thanks be to God", as a sign of acceptance of God's loving authority and power.
Ezra did not only read the Law of God but also interpreted it so that all could understand what was read. And he did that not just for five minutes, or 10 minutes but for several hours, from dawn to until noon, and the people remained standing as they listened to him attentively. They recognized that the role of Ezra, as a priest and a scholar of God's Law, was to make understandable what was read, besides conducting worship and rituals. As Catholics, we too must recognize the role of the priests in our Christian life. Besides administering or celebrating the sacraments, the primary task of a priest is to proclaim God's Word. St Paul writes that a pastor's primary duty is "to faithfully teach, explain, expound and make applicable the Word to the lives of his hearers", 1 Timothy (4:13-16). For this purpose, a priest may adopt different approaches to preach his homily or sermon, such as expository, textual, narrative, or topical. Accordingly, some sermons or homilies may be short, some may be longer than others, so, it's hard to judge how long a homily should be. Sometimes 5 minutes is alright, sometimes 15 minutes alright; it depends on the context and occasion. I think the guiding principle for both the preachers and the listeners must be to know what God wants to say to us here and now through the scriptures of the day. Let us, therefore, pray that God may help the preachers to be good and faithful teachers of God's Word and the congregation to be good and active listeners.
The Israelites responded to the preaching of God's Word with mourning and weeping. But when they understood God's love and faithfulness, their sorrow turned into joy, thereby leading to feasting, eating and drinking, and including the poor in a big celebration. If we too truly attend to the hearing of God's Word, it will cause us grief, distress, and lamentation over our personal sin and the sin of the world. However, we don't have to continue in the state of sorrow forever. God never wants us to live with guilt and shame or bad feelings about ourselves. St Paul says: "Godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation", 2 Corinthians (7:10), meaning that a deep sorrow over sin leads to genuine conversion and a change of heart.

So, instead of feeling sad, guilty, and unhappy about ourselves, let us rejoice and be glad that we have been made aware of our sins, and our sorrow has led to godly repentance and right relationship with God because of His goodness, kindness, faithfulness and generosity. Let us move beyond our sorrowful past and celebrate and share with others what God has done for us.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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