My friends, on this 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are really, as I said in the bulletin, given a template—guidance, so to speak, of how we should be in our world, as followers of our brother, Jesus. In the first reading from Nehemiah, who is known in 1st Testament history, as, “the Builder,” that is, of the walls of Jerusalem, we hear through the priest Ezra, a bit of the story of the Israelite people returning from Exile. The people are understandably sad with regard to their relationship with God whom they feel they have failed. But Ezra reassures them that they should not fear, should not be sad or weep because, as he basically tells them, “Our God will always give you a second chance, as long as you are willing to try again.

Those of you old enough to remember Church teachings before the Second Vatican Council will remember that we Catholics grew up being taught to have the same feelings as the people in Ezra’s time, approximately in the 5th Century B.C. We learned that we had failed God, and had done so grievously, to the point that God “demanded” reparation for our sins in the form of the death of Jesus, “his” own son.
Now, of course we don’t believe this anymore as by “breaking open the Word” more fully after the Council in 1965, we came to understand and believe that our God loves us so much more than we humans can fully imagine. And we know this to be true through such New Testament stories as the Prodigal Child, and that of the Good Shepherd, who would leave the 99 and go in search of one-lost-one. In the story of the Prodigal, we see the “Loving Parent” [God] not just receiving the errant one back,
but running to meet this one, returning home. So, we see the 2nd Vatican Council, through the inspired work of Pope John XXIII, and the experts he gathered around him, were able to unearth and uplift this “old” idea of a God who loves us beyond all imagining.

This theme of a God who loves us in an over-the-top way continues and moves us to the next step in Paul’s selection today to the Corinthians. We learn here that God’s love is universal and equal with regard to us all. Paul basically says, we are different, “many parts, but one body—no one is indispensable, and no one can say to another, I don’t need you.” Additionally, Paul tells us that our love must go further, “if one of you suffers, [we all] suffer with that [one].” [Likewise], “if one of you is honored, we all [should] feel their joy.”

It seems my friends, that according to Paul, our God “constructed” us this way to be “of this vision”—what hurts one, hurts all, and what brings happiness to one should be a joyous thing to all. And he goes even further to say, that we should “care especially for the least among us.” Even the psalmist in number 19 today affirms this thought, “your command,” your precepts, “are clear” –[they] “give light to [our] eyes.” Our National Council of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) finally came out this past week, (saw the light we might say), speaking against most recent executive orders out of Washington targeting, “the least among us!”
And the messages from Scripture today are completed in Luke’s account of Jesus returning to his hometown. As I just read, Jesus proclaimed the words of the prophet Isaiah, in his synagogue, before his family and friends, and even though the Gospel reading didn’t include it today, we know that many rejected his interpretation of the prophet’s words. Jesus spoke of how the long-awaited Messiah would appear and what he would do, reading simply and eloquently: [this One will] “bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, (remembering) that people in our world can be held captive, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually too). Additionally, this One will recover, “sight to the blind,” and again, blindness can be present in many-faceted ways. And finally, the Messiah would give, “release to prisoners,” [setting them free not only from physical chains, but from emotional and spiritual ones too.

And the piece that the people couldn’t seem to accept was Jesus’ words, that, “Today this Scripture reading is fulfilled in your hearing.” Those who thought they knew him best, basically said, “Who do you think you are?—we know where you come from!”

And my friends, as I pondered the entire message here, I found myself thinking, in a very humble way, shouldn’t we as Jesus’ followers, if we are really intent on “following him,” be able to say too, “Today, in your hearing, the Scriptures are fulfilled”[!] Shouldn’t each of us be about “bringing glad tidings, proclaiming liberty, and release to prisoners,” and recovering of sight to the blind”[?]—not to the degree of course that Jesus did these actions, but just the same, shouldn’t these actions be part of our lives?

You all know my love of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister. She teaches that we followers of Jesus must, in living and acting in our world, listen with the “ear of the heart.” I believe we were blessed with such a model to follow in the person of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde in a National Prayer time address aimed at the 47th president of the United States appealing to him to show mercy in the name of the God of us all. This past week we all have seen many actions coming out of Washington that appear to be simply, “mean.” And again, finally our own bishops have come to say as much. Upon further reflection of this word, “mean,” we see that the first two letters spell, “me.” If we are going to claim to follow Jesus, we simply must be better than this. Amen? Amen!