Hungry for the Word

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Deacon Thomas Stephenson

January 24, 2016

The beginning of today’s Gospel, the first four verses of chapter one of Luke, is unique. St. Luke was a physician, he was well educated, and his writing reflects that. He opens with an introduction, telling us what he is doing, and also why – “so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed”. Luke addresses his book to “Theophilus”, which basically equates to “God-lover” in Greek (Theophilos). There are various opinions as to whether or not Theophilus was an actual person, or if this is just a term Luke used as a way to address the group of Christians, God lovers, who would read this Gospel. Either way, we should be able to say that we, too, are lovers of God, and this Gospel is addressed to us as well.

Luke is very specific in telling us that what he is writing is a true account of what happened; it is a historical record based on eyewitness testimony; some of his information may have even come directly from Our Lady herself. He was committed to relating an accurate, reliable story of Jesus.

Luke wanted to make sure that the truth about Jesus was faithfully transmitted to others, but the truth of his gospel does not rest solely on how carefully he investigated everything. The ultimate truth contained here, and in all of the Bible, rests in the fact of it being the inspired Word of God. Luke composed it and wrote it down, but he did so with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In today’s first reading from the prophet Nehemiah, the priest Ezra brought the book of the Law, probably the book of Deuteronomy, before the assembly. It is believed that this book had not been in wide use for quite a while. This occurred at the time that the Jewish community was getting re-established in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. So the people really wanted to hear the word, they were hungry for it. Ezra opened the book, and read from early morning to mid-day. This was not a short reading. And yet, with their intense desire to hear the word, the people were attentive. Could we be so hungry to hear God’s word that we could be attentive for that long? Not only were they attentive, they were so moved at hearing the word that they wept. They wept, because they understood that not following God’s law brought them hardship. Yet, they are told not to weep, but to celebrate, because now they have heard and will observe God’s laws. That is the power of the Word of God when it is heard, and really listened to, with open ears and open hearts.

And the Gospel parallels the first reading. Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day, as was His custom. We know that the Holy Family were faithful Jews, and Jesus maintained this faithfulness throughout His life. The people came to the synagogue to worship and to hear the word of God. We are told that Jesus found the passage from Isaiah He was looking for, and once He had finished reading and sat down, and everyone was watching Him, He told them that the passage they had just heard had been fulfilled.

Now, these were people who knew Jesus; Nazareth was where He had grown up and lived much of His life. Next week’s Gospel will cover how these people reacted to what Jesus said. At this moment, though, we see that they are deeply affected by the power of the Word, and of Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Luke wrote his Gospel not just for one person, but for all of us who may be considered God-lovers. Jesus speaks so that all of us can hear, too. Writing in the third century, Origen of Alexandria tells us “When you read about Jesus teaching in the synagogues of Galilee and everyone there praising Him, take care not to regard those people as uniquely privileged, and yourselves as deprived of His teaching. If scripture is true, it was not only to the Jewish congregations of His own generation that our Lord spoke. He still speaks to us assembled here today.” These words were written about 1,800 years ago, and they still apply just as much now. It’s true that we cannot hear the Lord speaking the way the disciples did, but through the Gospels, we still do hear Him speaking His words, from His mouth to our ears.

All of scripture still speaks to us today. The Psalm we heard earlier says: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple”. The word of the Lord is not just a set of rules for us to follow; His word is the light that illuminates our path, that shows us the way to loving Him more deeply and strengthening our relationship with Him.

In order to hear the Word correctly, we must not only open our ears and our hearts; we must also listen through our Catholic faith. We need the Church to properly understand the Word of God. Scripture may speak to us in different ways at different times of our life, and to some of us differently than to others. The meaning of scripture is constant, but how the word affects us varies. We do need to use our faith to help keep us from misunderstanding what the word may be saying to us.

The Word of God continues to speak to us today. The Word must be something we not only hear on Sunday, or read in the Bible; it has to penetrate our lives, it has to grow in our hearts, and it has to be a presence that we share with others, especially those we love. Whenever we encounter the Word of God, whether here at Mass, at home reading the bible, or in any other situation, let us be moved deeply like the people in the first reading, but not to mourn or weep; let us rejoice! The Word of the Lord is true, the joy of the Lord is our strength, and the Gospel of the Lord is truly good news, guiding us to our salvation.