HOMILY 3RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME 26/01/2025

 3RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME  HOMILY – YEAR C   2025

JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY TAKES OFF IN GALILEE

Lk 1.1-4, 4.14-21                      Neh 8.2-6                 1Cor 12.12-30

 

I begin with a quote from a homily at a prayer service this week: “Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They…may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurudwaras and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”  Thus spoke Mariann Budde, the Episcopal (Anglican) Bishop of Washington.

Needless to say, those to whom it was directed were indignant, even demanding an apology, but how can one offer an apology when these are just Gospel values being proclaimed in the real world?  In this context there is no argument that can support prejudice, racism, misogyny or condemnation of the complexities of human sexuality, apart from ignorance or denial.

This could well be said in our own scene, where similar situations apply. Twice in the last week, I was called to anoint the dying and pray with their families, at Aged Care at Arcadia and Trevi Court, where the vast majority of carers and workers in general are migrants. They show a sensitivity and compassion for the aged and sick in the way they go about their tasks, and are also helpful and friendly to those who come to visit.  We’d be lost without them, and our elderly far worse off.  (And I am not suggesting that they are undocumented either!)

To my mind, this all fits well with today’s Gospel, where Jesus simply and clearly states: “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.”  His message is good news all the way, if only we apply it to the way we live our faith.

So  Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee in the synagogue, with the emphasis on continuity, from the Old Testament, as he quotes Isaiah the Third, using words of hope and renewal, with the promise of better times ahead.  There are echoes of this also in John the Baptist’s call to a fresh start, with emphasis on repentance and determination to do better in living one’s faith.

It is significant that Luke starts with Jesus in Galilee, representative of the universality of his message, to all people of good will, and not just those present in the synagogue. What is more, Jesus makes his presence felt in the traditional place of worship, but soon moves beyond it, as he takes up his itinerant ministry to all, out on the highways and byways of his travels.  Diversity and inclusion is very much a part of the deal.

Meanwhile, Luke’s purpose is to provide a theological picture of who Jesus is, and to focus on his mission to reveal a God of love and life, who is close to his people, and not just a distant omnipotent judge to be feared, as Jesus walks among them, and so, us.

Now, coincidentally, 2025 has already been named a Jubilee Year by Pope John Paul II in 2000. What does this mean for you and me?  Points highlighted in the preparation can be summed up thus: “A word of hope, a path of hope, signs of hope, appeals to hope, anchored in hope”.  The papal proclamation of the year of jubilee is “Hope does not disappoint” (“Spes non confundit”), with the parallel motto “Pilgrims of Hope”,  at a time when the world in general is in turmoil and conflict, in so many ways.

Words are simple, and it can be difficult to be hopeful, when things are going pear-shaped in our own lives or in our world, but it’s at the heart of the Gospel, as we work together to shape a better world, with all the ups and downs we face as individuals and as a community and country.

On the local scene too, there is controversy and contention over this particular weekend, when we commemorate Australia Day.  Some prefer it not to be mentioned because of the different perspectives on it, but that’s just leaving it as the ‘elephant in the room’ , which we need to talk about!

We need to know our history and to acknowledge the wrongs and the rights in perspective.  Thus I conclude with a reflection titled “Sorry, Sorry” (byAnne Kerr), which gives a simple picture of that complex history.  And let’s be thankful we live in a multicultural society with such a diverse history, where we believe in a fair go for all, which again seems to me to be a fundamental Gospel value.

john hannon                                                                            26th  January 2025

 

View All