Sunday Homily, January 24, 2016, 3rd Ordinary Time, C
Readings:
Nehemiah 8, 2-10, Do not be sad and do not weep.
Psalm 19, Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.
1 Corinthians 12, 12-30, A body is one though it has many parts.
Luke 1, 1-4; 4, 14-21, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives.
Victoria says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in. We got a brunch today."
Introduction
Our first reading is from Nehemiah, Ezra, a scribe and priest, reads and teaches from the written Torah in Jerusalem, brought back by those returning from the Babylon Exile. The Torah, of course, begins with the Book of Genesis and the creation story.
Later the NT and then, Sufi Islam would make known that we are made in the image and likeness of God. A bond begins! Our second reading from 1 Corinthians follows last Sunday’s teaching on the spiritual gifts. Today’s reading describes how we are one in the Spirit as the body of Christ in the world.
Harper, too, says, "Hi, Folks, Come in."
Homily by Mike
Remember the story about the tax collector and the Pharisee who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee praised himself and ended his prayer by saying, ‘I am glad that I’m not like the tax collector standing over there. The tax collector however was beating his breast saying, ‘Have mercy on me a sinner.’ The Pharisee was self-righteous instead of being humble. He chose to look down upon others as if they were morally inferior. He committed the sin of pride, the first of the deadly sins and he, too, like the tax collector, should have been seeking forgiveness.
Hi, Cathy, Welcome in to you, too. Thanks for bringing Harper.
Don’t be surprised when Pope Francis formally asks the Jews to forgive us for being self-righteous toward them for so many centuries prior to World War II. Unfortunately we had a part in the Holocaust for our prior teaching that the Jews could not be saved unless they became Christians.
Sez Genevieve, "I want to sing, too." Watch out, Folks, she can almost walk.
Francis has been calling us to recognize the bond that exists between Jews and Christians; it’s called the Spirit, blows were it wills, and is present within the inspired writings of both Jew and Christian. Jesus was a Jew. Most of the NT was written by inspired Jews who believed that the Messiah had come. Francis is encouraging us to visual this graphic relationship: within every Christian there is a Jew.
Buddies, Leo & Genevieve.
Today’s gospel is about what happened when Jesus entered the Sabbath synagogue service. The reading for that day, as you have heard, were the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me….’ The one who gave the reading would then give a teaching on why and to whom Isaiah had said these words.
The entrance, Here they come, Folks.
For example, Isaiah could have been referring to the Jews to whom Ezra was reading and explaining the newly written Torah that had been brought back from Babylon after the exiles had been set free by Cyrus the Great. Instead the inspired writers have Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s words using them as an expectation for the coming of the Messiah. In doing so, the structure of the Christian Liturgy of the Word would forever be identified: the words of Christ would fulfill the expectation of the reading from the Law and/or Prophets for the coming of the Messiah.
Mike, sharing The Idea.
What Jesus said, of course, was, ‘This day these words are fulfilled in your hearing.’ Those in the synagogue who were receiving the good news, then, were the poor in spirit, the captive being set free, and the blind being given the opportunity to see.
Does it get any better?
So there is an intended spiritual harmony between OT and NT, between the Sabbath synagogue service and the Christian Liturgy of the Word, and between Jew and Christian. Within every Christian there is a Jew. Let us open our hearts to the words of our creed today that addresses all who seek to be led by the Spirit.
Buddies, Michelle & Georgie.