Homily, 1-21-24; Sunday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle B:
I’m pretty sure most of you are aware of the little Magnificat booklets. The website describes it this way: “Magnificat is a spiritual guide to help you develop your prayer life, grow in your spiritual life, find a way to a more profound love for Christ, and participate in the holy Mass with greater fervor.” I have a subscription—at my age I get the large print edition. And in the section for today there is a reflection by the late Father Gabriele Amorth who at one time was the Chief Exorcist of Rome. If you have a copy of the Magnificat, I would encourage you to read the article sometime after Mass. For those who do not have a copy, let me read a portion of it that relates to today’s gospel. He writes:
“At the beginning of the Gospel of Mark there are four phrases that summarize the entire work of the Lord and that nurture and give meaning to our existence: This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel. Analyzing them, we shall understand the sense of the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Jesus. The first phrase tells us that the time for waiting is finished: from the moment when Jesus is born on earth, he becomes contemporaneously the center of all human history. Here is the substance of the second phrase: heaven, which had been closed because of sin, is now open, in virtue of the transfigured flesh of Christ in his Resurrection. By now his kingdom of justice and peace has definitely arrived…. The doors of paradise have been thrown open, and the dazzling light of Christ, raised and living, includes the resting place of all the redeemed. The third phrase reveals to us that in order to enjoy eternal beatitude, we must change our way of thinking and therefore our life in a total and radical way. We have been called to a continuous metanoia, a conversion, a reformulation of the priority of life, so that this reality can also be fully realized in our own existence. Finally, the fourth phrase tells us how to work this conversion: by living the Gospel. There we have all that is necessary. The Gospel, in turn, summarizes what Jesus commands his disciples: love one another, even as I have loved you.”
As Father Amorth points out, we hear Jesus say in our gospel passage today: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” We also heard St. Paul tell us: “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.” We are in the time of fulfillment that Jesus initiated for us, but time is running out. Each day brings us closer to the end of time. And so, it is always a time for us to repent and commit to a road of conversion. It is a time for us to heed the Gospel message of Jesus and the Word of God found throughout Sacred Scriptures.
Last week, Fr. Hurley mentioned an encounter with a Baptist who claimed that Catholics don’t emphasize Sacred Scriptures. He said that he countered by explaining how our Mass is rich in Scripture, not only in the three readings at Sunday Mass, but also throughout the liturgy. The Introduction to the Lectionary states: “The liturgical celebration, founded primarily on the word of God and sustained by it, becomes a new event and enriches the word itself with new meaning and power. … The liturgical celebration becomes therefore the continuing, complete, and effective presentation of God’s word. The word of God constantly proclaimed in the Liturgy is always, then, a living and effective word through the power of the Holy Spirit. It expresses the Father’s love that never fails in its effectiveness toward us.” The Word of God is important to us Catholics. In 2019, Pope Francis declared that every year the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time be designated as The Word of God Sunday. And so today, although without much fanfare, we reflect in a special way on the importance of Scriptures in guiding us through our lives.
Each Sunday we come to Mass and hear three scripture readings proclaimed, plus a responsorial psalm. The first reading is from the Old Testament, the second is from the New Testament letters of St. Paul and the other Apostles, and the third is from the gospels. The readings are on a three year rotation with the Gospel of Matthew featured in Year A, the Gospel of Mark in Year B which we are in this year, and the Gospel of Luke is featured in Year C. Readings from the Gospel of John are often used on special feasts and interspersed in the three years, especially in year B because Mark’s Gospel is relatively short.
At Mass we have a homily that is intended to break open the Word of God to make it more meaningful in our daily secular and spiritual lives. But there are limitations. At the seminary, in homiletics class, we were cautioned not to feel compelled to preach on all three readings. It would be better to focus on one reading, or one part of a reading, or maybe even just one word from one reading. With three readings for each Sunday, and a three year cycle, this means that for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, a preacher could potentially go for nine years without preaching on the same reading.
But if the homily only addresses one reading, how much will you in the congregation benefit from the other readings. Well, we pray the Holy Spirit will touch our hearts so that we hear what He intends us to hear when He intends us to hear it. But we must also do our part. And a big part of that is preparation for Mass.
I would encourage you all to read and review the Mass readings before you come to Mass. They’re listed in the bulletin, and it’s easy to find them at the Bishops’ website. You can sign up and they will send you an email every morning with that day’s readings. Or, maybe you might want to consider purchasing a subscription to the Magnificat. I would then encourage you to go one step further. Do not just only read the text of the reading, but read the actual passage in your Bible. Many of the Mass readings have been shortened to make them more manageable, with verses omitted within the text that can reduce the meaning. For example our first reading today was from chapter 3 of the Book of Jonah. We heard verses one through five and then skipped to verse ten for the conclusion. What happened in verses six through nine? I also would encourage you to read your Bible starting a little before the passage and continuing after the passage to put it in better context, as well. And read the footnotes in your Bible along the way. They can give some important insights. When you hear the passages proclaimed at Mass, you will listen in a new and familiar way for the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
The Word of God is important for showing us how to live out the Gospel message, to teach us to repent in these days in which the Kingdom of God is being fulfilled. For each of us, our time is running out. The Word of God is a wonderful gift. Let us not take it for granted.