3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Sunday of the Word of God”
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
January 22, 2023
“Meeting Jesus”
Yesterday, at the March for Life, I met Jonathan Roumie, and, as most of you know, he plays Jesus in the TV series “The Chosen”. He graciously agreed to have his picture taken with me, and as I stepped forward, I told Fr. Tyler that I was about to have “a come to Jesus” meeting. Jonathan portrays Jesus convincingly, but more importantly, he has a faith that is real and courageous; he strives to follow the One he portrays. His address to the huge crowd at the March for Life was electric. Before tens of thousands, mostly young people, he bore witness to Christ. As he spoke of Christ’s love for every person at every stage of human existence, it was clear to me that his relationship with the Lord is very real and transformative. Listening to his words, I heard the Word of Jesus.
On this Sunday, designated by Pope Francis as “The Sunday of the Word of God”, let us welcome anew the Word of Jesus as it comes to us through the reading and proclamation of the Scriptures, through the Church’s teaching and worship, and through the witness of his followers. Let us allow the Word made flesh to speak to our minds, our hearts, and our lives. Indeed, in the Scriptures that have been proclaimed today, Christ speaks to us in three very real, concrete ways: 1) In our times of darkness; 2) In our calling to discipleship; and 3) In our need for unity.
“The People Who Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light”
In the Gospel, Jesus begins his ministry in a Capernaum, in Northern Galilee, to which he withdrew after the arrest of John the Baptist. It was of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali that Isaiah the prophet had spoken: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali … the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen.” Eight centuries earlier, the people of Zebulun and Naphtali had been exiled. As they were deported, darkness, death, and gloom descended upon them … And it was from there that Jesus launched his mission of preaching the Word, deeply aware that his own arrest and execution would come soon enough. As Jesus took up his ministry of preaching in Capernaum, Isaiah’s prophecy came true: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”, namely, Jesus himself.
Let us be deeply aware that today Jesus continues to speak and act in the same way. He enters our darkness. He is most present to us in our bleakest moments. He seeks to bring his Word into the darkest corners of our souls, to shed light on those parts of our lives we may think are unredeemable. His message of repentance is a message of mercy, encouragement, and healing, and his Word is effective as in Confession we are absolved of our sins. So too, Jesus draws near to shed his light and address his Word most powerfully to the Church in its darkest hours, in times of crisis, diminishment, or persecution. Jesus continues to love his Church, to walk with us, even in times of darkness. If we but open our eyes of faith, we too can say with Isaiah the prophet: “The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light.”
The Calling to Becoming Disciples
It was in the land once beset by darkness that Jesus chose his first disciples. As he walked along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus encountered two sets of brothers – Simon Peter and Andrew; and James and John – and he called them to come after him. Jesus did not offer them a mission statement or a plan. He did not spell out his views on the issues of the day. No, Jesus simply called them to follow him – he called them to himself, to his Person. He asked them to follow him because of who he was (and is).
They were magnetized by his Word. His mere presence, the sound of his voice, his gaze exuded an authority like no other. When Jesus said he would make these fishermen ‘fishers of men’ – they did not really understand what he was calling them to do – only that the Lord connected with who they were and what they did and invited them to do the same thing but in a wholly new and amazing way, in a way that would elevate and transform their lives forever.
So too, the Word of God calls us not to any ideology or philosophy or brand of politics, but rather to adhere to the Person of Christ, to follow Jesus. Jesus calls us to follow him, to come after him, to be his disciples. Even if we are lifelong Catholics and secure in our vocations, he nonetheless calls us to follow him more closely – to encounter him, to know him, to love him – to experience anew his presence, to listen to the sound of his voice, and to allow him to gaze into the depths of our souls. As you read the Scriptures or listen as they are proclaimed, have you ever sensed that Christ is present to you, that he is speaking to you, that indeed he is gazing at you, just as he looked upon those first of his disciples? As the Word of God speaks to us and calls us to holiness and discipleship, is he not showing us the connection between our daily life and work, and the mission he entrusts to us, viz., to spread the Good News of his redeeming love. Once we sense the presence of Jesus, and listen to him, and encounter him, then we, like those first disciples, will be willing to leave behind the familiar, to go out on a limb to bear witness to Christ, to attract others to Jesus, and to win back those who have slipped away from Christ and his Church.
A Word of Unity
Finally, let me say something about the Word of God and the unity of the Church. In today’s second reading, Paul decries a lack of unity in the Church at Corinth. The unity Christ willed for his Church was replaced partisanship and rivalry. At Corinth, some followed Paul. Others, Apollos. Still others, Cephas. Paul reprimands the Corinthians for this, and reminds them that he came among them to preach the Gospel, to preach the Word of God, but “not with the wisdom of human eloquence, lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of its meaning.”
It’s not hard to find rivalry and partisanship in the Church of our day. Setting one pope or bishop or priest or parish against another: …looking for a human eloquence that accords with our preconceived views, rather than for Jesus’ own message of repentance, the message of the Cross; …allowing various ideologies to infect and deform our life of faith. In these and other ways, we can undermine our own adherence to the Word of God which transcends and nullifies the divisiveness introduced into the Body of Christ, by those who prefer their own word and wisdom to the wisdom of the Cross. On this Sunday of the Word of God, it is good to remind ourselves of the sovereignty of God’s Word – which is more than a human word – but the very Word of God in Scripture and Tradition, as it comes to us through the Church. When we are united around God’s revealed Word, then it is that we encounter Christ in truth and love. Then it is that we become credible witnesses to the Word of God.
More Than a Human Word
Only a very few can portray Jesus on stage or screen. But all of us can welcome Jesus, the Word made flesh, into our hearts – whether in time of crisis, or as his disciples and witnesses, or as agents of unity and harmony in the life of the Church. As we listen to the Word of God may we receive it, ‘not merely as a human word but, as it truly is, the Word of God, now at work in us who believe’ (1 Thessalonians 2:13).