Homily: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
Friends,
this Sunday we celebrate the Word of God in a special way. Two years ago, Pope Francis instituted this
celebration on the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time so as to give us an
opportunity to remember the preeminent place of honor that the Word of God—the Holy
Scriptures—holds in our lives as Catholic Christians and so recommit ourselves
to study, meditate on, and live out this Word in our lives. Today, our readings emphasize the power that
the word of God has to change hearts and move lives in a new direction. If we consider these readings carefully, we
will equip ourselves to respond more readily to the word of God in our own
lives. Therefore, let’s take a look at
these readings.
In
the first reading, we heard of God’s call to the prophet Jonah to go to the
great city of Nineveh and to proclaim to them this message: that God has seen
the wickedness of the people there and has resolved to destroy the city and all
who are in it if, after 40 days, they have not repented of their wickedness and
began to live righteously once again. We
read how the people of Nineveh—from the lowest person to the greatest, the king—responded
to the word of God that came from Jonah’s proclamation and repented; and we
read how God then relented of his plans and spared the city. This is extraordinary because the Ninevites
were not descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel; rather, they were gentiles. Nonetheless, it appears that they both knew
of the Lord, the God of the Israelites, and feared Him: so much so, that they
immediately repented when they heard this word of God through Jonah’s
proclamation. Thus, we see how the word
of God can change hearts and move lives in a new direction, but that it must
begin with a familiarity and healthy fear of God.
Not
included in this passage is the reality that what we heard today was actually
the second time that God had called Jonah
to go to Nineveh. The first time that
God called Jonah to go, he resisted.
Instead of going to Nineveh, he tried to run away from it. Jonah knew the power that God’s word had to
change hearts and move lives in a new direction and he didn’t want the Ninevites,
who were an enemy of the Israelite people, to have the chance to repent before God’s
wrath fell upon them. God intervened,
however, causing a terrible storm to arise over the sea through which Jonah’s “escape
boat” was travelling. Jonah recognized
that it was because of him this was happening and so submitted himself to be
thrown overboard, which he was. He was
then swallowed up by the “great fish” (a whale) in which he spent three days
and three nights and there repented of his refusal to follow God’s command. After those days, the whale left him on the
shore of the sea and God called him a second time to go to Nineveh. Having himself repented and received God’s
mercy, Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s call to repentance. Jonah knew God and feared Him; and even
though Jonah resisted the word of God initially, it eventually changed his
heart and moved his life in a new direction.
In
the Gospel reading, we heard the Word of God (capital “W”) calling to Simon and
Andrew, James and John; and how the Word, calling out to them, changed their
hearts and moved their lives in a new direction. These men, too, knew God and feared Him. They also were actively expecting the coming
of the Messiah. And so, when the Word
himself came to them and called them, they responded enthusiastically: leaving
everything behind because they recognized in Jesus the fulfillment of their
hope.
My
brothers and sisters, when we hear the word of God proclaimed to us, we too
should change and be moved. Every week,
we come here to Mass and the word of God is proclaimed to us in the Holy Scriptures. How are we to respond? Perhaps no one has ever instructed you about
how to receive the word of God proclaimed to you nor about how to respond to
it. The United States Bishops have
published a helpful instruction regarding this and I’d like to read it to you
here. I have prepared copies of it for
you to take home with you after Mass, but let’s listen to this instruction now.
In
the General Instruction of the Roman
Missal (which is the instruction book for how to celebrate and participate
in Mass), it says: "When the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church, God
himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his word, proclaims the
Gospel" (GIRM, no. 29).
“These words from the General
Instruction set before us a profound truth that we need to ponder and make
our own. The words of Sacred Scripture are unlike any other texts we will ever
hear, for they not only give us information, they are the vehicle God uses to
reveal himself to us, the means by which we come to know the depth of God's
love for us, and the responsibilities entailed by being Christ's followers,
members of his Body. What is more, this Word of God proclaimed in the liturgy
possesses a special sacramental power to bring about in us what it proclaims.
The Word of God proclaimed at Mass is 'efficacious' that is, it not only tells
us of God and God's will for us, it also helps us to put that will of God into
practice in our own lives. How, then, do we respond to this wonderful gift of
God's Word? We respond in word and song, in posture and gesture, in silent
meditation and, most important of all, by listening attentively to that Word as
it is proclaimed. Following each reading we express our gratitude for this gift
with the words "Thanks be to God" or, in the case of the Gospel,
"Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ," and it is appropriate that a
brief period of silence be observed to allow for personal reflection. Following
the first reading we sing the Responsorial Psalm, a meditation on God's word
through the inspired words of one of the psalms from the psalter, the Bible's
prayer book.
“The Gospel is the highpoint
of the Liturgy of the Word. The readings from the Old Testament tell us of
God's promises and his preparation of his people for the coming of his Son; the
epistles and other pre-Gospel New Testament readings offer the reflections of
St. Paul and other contemporaries of the Lord on the life and message of
Christ; in the Acts of the Apostles we have a history of the early Church. We
believe that all Scripture, the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by the Holy
Spirit, but the Church has always given special honor to the Gospel because in
the Gospel we have not simply the preparation for and prefiguring of Christ,
nor reflections on his message, but the words and deeds of Christ himself.
“The proclamation of the
Gospel is surrounded with marks of respect and honor: the Gospel is read by an
ordained minister, the deacon, or, when no deacon is present, by a priest; the
Book of the Gospels is carried aloft with honor in the entrance procession and
placed on the altar until the Gospel reading to show the unity of Scripture and
Eucharist, of the table of the Word and the table of the Christ's body and
blood; just before the Gospel is read the Gospel book is carried in procession
to the ambo to the accompaniment of an acclamation sung by the people; it may
be incensed before the reading and is kissed at its conclusion; finally, all
stand as the Gospel is proclaimed. Through this posture and through the honor
paid to the book containing the Gospel, the Church pays homage to Christ who is
present in his Word and who proclaims his Gospel.
“What, then, must we do to
properly receive the Word of God proclaimed at Mass? The General
Instruction tells us that "the readings from the Word of God are
to be listened to reverently by everyone" (no. 29), and it provides that
those who read the Scriptures at Mass must be "truly suited to carrying
out this function and carefully prepared, so that by their hearing the readings
from the sacred texts the faithful may conceive in their hearts a sweet and living
affection for Sacred Scripture" (no. 101).
“The key word in all of this
is listening. We are called to listen attentively
as the reader, deacon or priest proclaims God's Word. Unless one is unable to
hear, one should not be reading along with a text from a missal or missalette.
Rather, taking our cue from the General Instruction itself, we
should listen as we would if Christ himself were standing at
the ambo, for in fact it is God who speaks when the Scriptures
are proclaimed. Carefully following along with the printed word can cause us to
miss the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit, the message that the Spirit may have
for us in one of the passages because we are anxious to "keep up," to
move along with the reader.
“Perhaps the best way to
understand the readings at Mass and our response to them is offered by Saint
John Paul II in his Instruction Dies Domini. He encourages
"those who take part in the Eucharist—priest, ministers and faithful... to
prepare the Sunday liturgy, reflecting beforehand upon the word of God which
will be proclaimed" and adds that if we do not, "it is difficult for
the liturgical proclamation of the word of God alone to produce the fruit we
might expect" (no. 40). In this way we will till the soil, preparing our
souls to receive the seeds to be planted by the Word of God so that seed may
bear fruit.
“The Word of God, then calls
for our listening and our response in silent reflection, as well as in word and
song. Most important of all, the Word of God, which is living and active, calls
each of us individually and all of us together for a response that moves beyond
the liturgy itself and affects our daily lives, leading us to engage fully in
the task of making Christ known to the world by all that we do and say.”
Friends, we can see from this
that we are called to be open to hearing the word of God proclaimed to us and
to be ready to respond to it in our lives.
In other words, we must make ourselves ready to have our hearts changed
and our lives moved in a new direction by the word of God. To do this, we must know God and fear
Him. By God’s grace, one and the same
action—listening to the word of God and meditating on it—will both prepare us
to respond and call us to action. As we
celebrate and honor God’s word today, let us give thanks. Let us then commit ourselves to demonstrating
our thanks by sharing God’s word with those around us.
Given in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – January 23rd,
2021
Given in Spanish at St. Patrick Parish: Kokomo, IN – January
24th, 2021
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