The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, C January 27, 2019
Fr. Albert St. Peter’s, New Iberia
“From daybreak till midday.” That’s how our first reading describes the length of the readings and homily in this synagogue service. That’s like 6 hours. Maybe I should strive for that today… No, don’t worry. I’ll stay much closer to the way Jesus preaches. Today he stops with only a single sentence for his homily! I’ve already gone past that, but I’ll keep in mind that Jesus’ longest recorded homily is like 15 minutes at most.
For all its brevity, Jesus’ terse commentary is incredible because of what it really means: “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” What passage? Isaiah’s promise of the Messiah who comes to do some great stuff. Jesus doesn’t have to say much because who he is means so much that simply pointing it out is enough to provoke a pretty strong reaction – they do try to kill him after this. Still, I am not the messiah, so I can’t be that effective.
And yet, I can’t quite stop at “I’m not Jesus” because, in a certain way, I am. So are you, in fact. Each of us belong to the Church, the Body of Christ. Each of us participates in who Jesus is, which means we also have a share in what he does. St. Paul in our second reading emphasizes that each of us belongs to the Body and must play our part. Not everyone is as visible as the priest or as “exciting” as miracle-workers, but that’s not the point. Every part is important: the body of Christ, the Church is not a real body or a real Church without every part working together. Paul lists apostles and teachers and miracle-workers, but he also includes administrators and assistants – background people with supposedly “boring” work. Being the body of Christ is not just my job – it is your job, every single one of you. But it is my job to help you do your job. So, how can you be the body of Christ? By living up to Jesus’ one-sentence homily. Jesus the messiah’s mission is carried on today in every one of you. So, learn from this list of things Isaiah says about that mission:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me.” See that we do not start with what you do, but with what God does and what we’ve received. Being the body of Christ is first about receiving the Spirit of God, adoption as God’s beloved children. What we do as a Church flows first from who we are. Look first always to God – we have work to do, but that work always depends on Him.
“To bring glad tidings to the poor.” If you do not love the poor, you are not living like a Christian. I don’t mean you have to get warm fuzzies every time you see a homeless person, but you should care. Recognize God’s image in everyone, especially those outcast and alone and going without so much that we take for granted. To bring them glad tidings might mean literally giving them money or something else. Often enough, the glad tidings they most crave is simply to be seen as human – to stop feeling like they are just a burden, an annoyance. Even if we can’t solve their problems, our words and actions should say “I see you and I love you.” For every human being, that is always glad tidings.
“To proclaim liberty to captives” and “to let the oppressed go free.” Not a jailbreak, but deeper freedom. We all sometimes feel like we are not as free as the want to be. We like to blame other people and institutions and rules, but, at the deepest level, it is sin and the devil that most robs us of our liberty. So many people battle against addictions. They aren’t all dramatic like drugs and alcohol: any bad habit we can’t get rid of is a kind of captivity. Liberty is possible through dependence on God, through grace, and through the prayerful, tangible support from members of the Church. Help others with their burdens not just by private prayer but by praying with them in person and by offering whatever help is in your power to give.
“And recovery of sigh to the blind.” Yes, we can make this a metaphor for helping people see the truth about God and Catholicism and living a holy life. Jesus did all that, but he also took this literally, he healed blind people all the time! And I think we should do it too. I’ve seen miraculous healings, but even before I saw, I knew it was possible. Right here, St. Paul clearly says that some people have gifts of healing. Over a thousand people come to Mass here every weekend and another 4000 across the parishes just in the city limits. Surely, some of them have gifts of healing, right? Yes! I don’t know who, but I know there are people in our parish and our city who have these gifts – they probably don’t realize it either. I’ve seen healings in other countries. It’s not because God loves other countries more. It’s simply because they expect it in faith and they ask for it. What’s the worst that happens if you take a few minutes to pray with someone and say, out loud, “Father, in the name of your son Jesus, I ask you to heal this person.”? It may not work every time or even a lot of the time. But it definitely won’t work if we don’t even ask. Physical healing was part of Jesus’ ministry. It still is. So let’s try acting like it.
“To proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” This is not a New Year’s resolution. It is a reference to the Old Testament Jubilee year. Every 50 years, the Jews were supposed to forgive all debts. They usually didn’t follow it, but God did command it. Yes, that means we too should be willing to forgive literal monetary debts from time to time, especially when such generosity is also glad tidings to the poor and liberty to a captive. At the spiritual level, we do have to forgive all spiritual debts. You don’t have to forget, but you do have to forgive. Our salvation literally depends on it. Jesus dies asking for the forgiveness of those actively killing him. Mercy is central to the mission of Christ, the mission we still share. It may take time and lots of prayer to get there, but forgiving everyone whose hurt us is both possible and absolutely necessary.
“Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” If you want short homilies like that one-liner, then make it true. Live the mission of Christ so I, and the world, can truly say “it is fulfilled and thanks be to God for that!”