My friends, let’s begin with the Scriptures—always a good place to start! Without being redundant, the 3^rd Sunday as with all the Sundays in Ordinary Time must be considered “extra” as we have spoken of in the past, as it is full of challenge for us.

Isaiah, first off, tells us that as people who tend to “walk in darkness,” from time to time, there is hope, because we have seen a “great light in Jesus!”  And the challenge for each of us, as his followers is to realize that we cannot allow, bullying, name-calling, lying—basically, abuse of any kind to stand.  I was pleased to even hear Chief Justice, John Roberts, in the impeachment trial going on at present, call the members of Congress back to being their “best selves,” in this regard, as the halls of Congress demand, if they expect to truly be heard by each other.

I felt the psalm response this morning needed to be sung—“You are my light and my salvation,” that we beautifully sang, “of whom should I be afraid?”  Of whom indeed—when we have such a friend as Jesus.  The psalmist continues—“You are the stronghold of my life!” In modern parlance, we might say, “Our God truly has our backs!”  Therefore, fear is a “place” we really don’t have to go—at least not for long.

Jim Wallis, minister and creator-editor of Sojourner Magazine, in a new book, entitled, Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus, in a chapter on “fear,” reminds his readers, unlike the apostles who found themselves in a “storm at sea,” to invite Jesus into “our boats.”  The Scriptures show us that it can make all the difference!

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians; we find the people squabbling over small differences, failing to keep their eyes on Jesus’ message—one of love, mercy, attempts at understanding—basically being—again, “our best selves.  In our present day Church; we see the same—factions for Benedict XVI, pope emeritus fighting against those of Pope Francis.  And yet, the Scriptures tell us that, “a light has shown in our darkness” and it would behoove all serious Christians to keep an eye on its glow.

Now practically speaking, someone has said that in future, and I think, it could happen now, if and when a pope retires, he (dare I say, “she?”) should discard the white cassock and go back to their pre-pope name and cardinal clothes in order to be most clear about who is in fact—the pope.  I respectfully agree.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians continues by saying the same—keep your eye on the message and who you are following! Let the Spirit of our great God do her work!  And in that regard, let us lift up the fact that Paul in today’s reading is taking counsel from Chloe’s household church community—a woman leader no less—let Church men take heed! We still need to shine light into that darkness—inequality.

This past week our country, as you know, celebrated Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday.  I read several articles and news items with regard to this great man and one in particular, about a lawyer; Bryan Stevenson with Equal Justice Initiatives in Montgomery, Alabama especially caught my attention. I would like to share a bit of his story here as we remember the work of Martin Luther King Jr., truly a light in our midst!

• First, I was saddened to learn from Stevenson that in the State of Alabama, Robert E. Lee is honored on the same day as the King Holiday. In a new book and now a major motion picture—both entitled, Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson has this to say, “ The Southern landscape is littered with iconography of the Confederacy—we actually celebrate the architects and defenders of slavery…this has to change if we are to get past this and to a healthier place.”
• He goes on to document how the precedent has been set around our world and that we as a nation could learn from the example of others in order to get past racism. In Johannesburg, South Africa, there is a museum and monuments that talk about the wrongfulness of apartheid.  In Berlin—you can’t go two blocks without seeing markers and stones placed next to the homes of Jewish families that were abducted during the Holocaust.
• But in this country Stevenson continues, we don’t have institutions that are dedicated and focused toward making a new generation of Americans appreciate the wrongfulness of what we did when we allowed lynching to prevail and persist. Yet, our Scriptures tell us that, “A light has shown in our darkness!”
• Stevenson has worked for over 30 years with others against wrongful convictions, over incarcerations and excessive punishment of blacks. And it was because of the lack of institutions to address this wrongfulness that Stevenson and his organization opened the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

Both are dedicated to the legacy of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration of blacks in the United States.

• For Stevenson, the above are a way to address the past and change the future—we need, he says, to create institutions in this country that clearly say, “Never again!” The museum tells the shameful truth about lynchings and of how when they stopped, they were basically, “moved indoors” through mass incarcerations and the death penalty for many blacks with a high rate of innocence among them!

As part of our trip last fall; we traveled through Montgomery and got there on the only day of the week when the museum was closed, but in walking around the block perimeter of the building, reading what we could about the site, realizing that it was built upon the spot of an actual “slave market,” the experience was quite soul-stretching.  Truly, we as a nation must shine a light upon such darkness!

Additionally, for this reason, when the leadership of our great country spews hatred for those who come to our borders who are different than those of us known as “white,” it should cause us to worry and vow to make changes.

Friends, our God calls us to be our best selves—always—to continue to shine a light into the dark places as Isaiah, Jesus and Paul spoke of in today’s readings—to see in fact when there is inequality, hatred, dishonesty, lack of mercy, justice, and do our part to better the situation .  We are capable as humans of so much good, but equally of so much bad—let us choose the good!  Amen? Amen!

Friends, this weekend brings our focus back to that time in our Church Year, Ordinary Time, while not a specific period like Advent, Christmas, Lent, or the Easter Season, is just as surely, an important time because this time of some 30 weeks, nearly 2/3 of our Church Year calls and challenges us to live out the messages instilled in us from our brother Jesus during those seemingly more special times named above.

And it is for this reason that I, as some others have chosen to name this part of our Church Year, “Extra” Ordinary Time, so that we wouldn’t forget its importance.  We only have to look at today’s readings to realize that we do not have a free-ride during Ordinary Time.

Isaiah and the God who inspires him, gets right to the point:  “You are my servant in whom I will be glorified.” Notice that we aren’t being asked here—there is just the realization that, “Yes,” this is the response that we will make in first having been loved by our God! It is almost as if God is saying, “Could you make any other response given what you know of my love for you?”  The prophet continues God’s words:  “I will make you a light to the nations,” and your light will be such that it will be seen, “to the ends of the earth!”

There is great joy here and we really shouldn’t miss that—it is much the same as we will see in upcoming weeks as Jesus calls his first disciples to be those same, “lights” that will shine to the ends of the world—or at least throughout the world within each of them lives.

The joy within those first followers was palpable when they said, “Master, where do you live?” and Jesus answered, “Come and see!” I am of course getting ahead of the scriptural story for today that simply identifies our brother Jesus as the One sent by our God to show us the way.  But one step really does lead to the next and our response to the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ—the Anointed One is to respond with the psalmist, “I am here to do your will!”

Paul then lets us know in this regard that he, “is called to be an apostle of Jesus,” and therefore tells the Corinthians that they are called to “be a holy people!”  “And what does that mean to be a holy people,” we might ask?  I would say that it calls us to be our best selves.  And going further, what does that in fact look like in our own lives?

Looking over my past week, a few things come to mind:

• As you know, Dick Dahl stood in for me last weekend as I spent time with my family completing our Christmas celebration. He always tells me, “Doing this is his privilege!”  That in itself is wonderful!—certainly a way that he shines his light.  In the homily that Dick shared last week, he commented on serving twice monthly at the Catholic Worker house staffing that facility over the dinner hour.  Very honestly, he spoke of not looking forward to this service, but doing it anyway because he knows that we will find Jesus there!  I value his comments so much because they support me when I feel the same way.  I too instinctively know that I must go as well or else I make a sham of ever looking for Jesus any place else, especially here among the love and care and respect of all of you—if I can’t find him there; I shouldn’t expect to find him here, either.
• I read a number of letters-to-the-editor of the National Catholic Reporter this week, probably 2/3 of them in support of the paper’s decision to name Nancy Pelosi, Catholic Newsmaker of the Year. Regardless of where any of us might be politically, I believe it is important to say that what Nancy Pelosi has done to earn this recognition went far beyond party and politics as she is accused of, by some—her actions were about patriotism—upholding the Constitution of this country that says that no one is above the law.  Now of course, everyone doesn’t see it that way and when a person decides, “to shine the light of our brother Jesus in our world, as we all must do if we are to be his followers; we can be certain that we too, as Pelosi, as Jesus, as Paul, may be ridiculed—but we must do it anyway.
• As I prepared for this homily, I took a look at what I wrote 3 years ago at this time as one administration in Washington was ending and another about to begin. Throughout the rhetoric of the previous election year, there was much talk about “making America great again.”  I found myself then, as now, asking, what is not great about working for the weakest among us, securing healthcare for millions of people who had none, standing up for equality in marriage for all those who love each other, protecting the environment through laws that curb abuse, done simply for monetary gain, leading the way in making our world safer from nuclear proliferation, standing up for women in equal pay for equal work and for women’s rights over their own bodies?  All of the above are about “shining our light” as Jesus asks of each of us.

In his final speech to Congress, President Barack Obama challenged each of us to do our part for our country and the same could be said for our Church, and of our families, because all these entities are ours and they will only be as great as we each are great.  At that time, the president’s words were simple–we all need to lace up our shoes, put our feet on the ground and get going!”

I can’t help but reflect on what a different tone this is to so much of what is coming out Washington these days—the hate, the back-biting, the meanness, the smallness, the lies and lack of truth-telling—a tone so much about, “what is best for me,”  so devoid of service toward all the people which should be the guiding force of any and all who would ask to be an elected official of this great nation.

But with each New Year, in both Church and State, there is hope anew, for change. A new year’s letter from a friend had some hope-filled thoughts—here are a few:  walk more—to the library, the post office…go outside, even when it looks gray and cold, eat more vegetables, get more often into that appreciation state of mind, noticing all the things that are genuinely worth appreciating….

Our Church and our brother Jesus, calls us in today’s liturgy as throughout the entire Church Year, “to be lights” in our world, “to touch,” “to be seen with,” “to keep company with,” those we may not want to be with—to see their needs, to hear their stories, to do our parts and in so doing, to make life better for all, including ourselves.  I can still hear Barack Obama’s encouragement to us in that final speech—“Yes we can!”  Amen? Amen!