Year C

Dec 10 2024

Following the Awe

Again this week we have the call of a prophet, Isaiah of Jerusalem. The scene is God’s “throne room,” the Holy of Holies in the temple. The fearsome seraphim, whose name means “burning ones,” act here as the agents of God’s purifying action to prepare the prophet for his mission. In the presence of the thrice-holy God, Isaiah recognizes the depths of his sinfulness as well as that of his own people; all of them are “unclean.” The burning of Isaiah’s lips not only prepares him for his role, but foreshadows what God has in store for all of Israel, if they will only allow themselves to be purified by the God who graciously sends this prophet to them.

In his Letter to the Corinthians, Paul has addressed a number of ways in which his audience has failed to recognize or has forgotten important truths about the gospel and the path of Christian discipleship. It is thus fitting that Paul concludes his letter by reminding them of the central and most fundamental truth of the gospel he has preached to them, which is the death and resurrection of Christ. The basic content of the gospel is summed up neatly: Christ died for our sins, but was resurrected, a verification that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God. This central reality was then proclaimed by those who met the risen Christ, including Paul himself, whose own ministry has been nothing but a work of God’s grace.

After announcing his mission to fulfill God’s promises to Israel, Jesus now encounters Simon and other fishermen, who have just arrived home from a disappointing night of fishing. Simon’s response to the command to go back out reveals both a natural tendency to operate according to human expectations (we didn’t catch any fish all night, why would we catch some now?) and openness to something beyond them (at your command I will lower the nets). The result is, of course, symbolic of what Peter and the others will be able to do once they learn to overcome their dependence on human ways of thinking, including the assumption that an imperfect and even sinful person cannot do God’s work.

Dec 10 2024

Scripture Study for

Dec 10 2024

Listen to the Voice

I have been proclaiming the wonderful deeds of Jesus since I was a girl. Even if they threaten me, I will stand up and tell. His love changed my life. His story must be told:

My job was to tend the fire outside the synagogue entry. I was just a girl. Every Sabbath, the men arrived to talk and argue about the law. They never saw me. On this day, he saw me. He smiled at me as he went inside.

The coals of the fire glowed red and orange. I placed another log on the flames. I heard his voice: “The Lord has sent me to set captives free,” he said, “to give sight to the blind.” My heart pulsed like the embers in that fire. This was love. The men were awed at his preaching. He sat. He said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The silence was thick. I knew it then in my heart. This was the One we had been waiting for.

His preaching was not enough for some. My father’s brother asked him to do a special miracle just for Nazareth. I knew my uncle, who only wanted something to boast about. That was not love. That was cold. Even a young girl could see that. I started to object, but my father muttered, “Be still!” Jesus saw their coldness. His eyes looked sad.

They grew angry. They wanted to hurt him. I don’t know how he got away. But he did.

They can behead me if they like. I will be faithful to my call to speak of him. There has never been anyone so loving as Jesus. I will not be still. Like Jeremiah, I will speak! God will be with me, with a love that radiates like a fire in my bones.

I will speak!

Consider/Discuss

Today’s Gospel story is like a family reunion gone wrong. Jesus has come home. And some of his neighbors are not content simply to hear him preach, even though “gracious words came out of his mouth.” They want their native son to put them on the map with signs and wonders. Jeremiah the prophet also found himself unwelcome in Israel. What is it about human nature that we listen least to those who are closest and are most impressed by those from far away, especially more than fifty miles away? Why do we do that?
We are all called to speak of the love that we have received. Evangelization is not just for priests and preachers. In the early church, ordinary people told the story of Jesus, even if it meant death, even if it meant being ostracized by family. How are you and I called to speak today?

Living and Praying with the Word

Living Word, thank you for vocal cords. Texts and emails are fine, but thank you for the warmth of a voice. There are some voices that we no longer hear, ones that we hope to hear, and voices that we haven’t always appreciated until they are silent. Help us to savor the voices of those who love us, those who are close by. Help us to really hear them. They are a gift to us. Thank you for the gift of voice. Help us to use it well.

Dec 10 2024

Scripture Study for

The relationship between Jeremiah and God was never easy. God demanded that Jeremiah give stern warnings and condemnations that brought the prophet pain and hatred. Yet the relationship was profoundly honest and intimate, allowing the prophet at times to express his deep resentment of his calling and even the fact that he had been born (Jeremiah 20:7–18). Here, at the scene of his calling, Jeremiah is told that he has been created to serve as God’s prophet; it is not an optional vocation. God recognizes that this life’s work will be painful for Jeremiah, but God also affirms that the prophet will be faithful to his role in speaking God’s word, because God will be with him.

Paul has been warning the Corinthians that the spiritual gifts they have received have led them to overvalue their own personal worth, taking pride in them and ranking them in importance. The result has been division, the exact opposite of what the gifts are intended to produce. As important as the gifts obviously are, they are a detriment to the community if they are not received and exercised in love. Love leads the individual to seek the good of others, to work for their benefit, and to give way to their needs when possible. The gifts given to the Corinthians are meant to be exercised in love and out of love; otherwise, they are not only wasted but indeed harmful.

In Nazareth, the people are amazed but also confused at Jesus’ announcement that the scriptures are now being fulfilled. This ambiguous response points to the perennial difficulty of recognizing who is a true prophet. Jesus assumes that the people want proof of his claim. Prophets such as Elijah and Elisha were known for working wonders, which were proofs of their authenticity. Rather than accede to this expectation, Jesus provocatively points out that there were times when both prophets helped non-Israelites instead of Israelites. While this reminder points to a central theme in Luke, the universal scope of Jesus’ mission, it infuriates the townspeople, once again illustrating the fact that prophets are often deeply unpopular among their own people.

Dec 09 2024

When Beauty Sweeps In

The conductor steps up to the platform, bows to the audience, turns to the orchestra and raises the baton. There is a hush. Hands and instruments are still. All eyes are on the podium. For that split second, no movement, no noise, an air of expectation. Then delicately, the baton dips. The violins begin to play. The cellos join in. The music swells and then fades. The virtuoso soloist takes the bow to the Stradivarius violin, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major sweeps in, in all its beauty.

That delicate moment of stillness as a master conductor—when Leonard Bernstein raised his baton—was there a similar quiet when Ezra took the platform to read the newly-found law to the Jews? Was there was an expectant stillness in the synagogue when Jesus stood up to read from the scroll of Isaiah?

That hushed moment is a moment of promise. Something beautiful is about to begin.

The beauty of Ezra’s law is access to God. God the Beautiful is clean and holy. If a Jew wants to come close to God, then he or she has to be clean and holy. The law is the way. “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul,” the psalmist sings. The law is deeply beloved for the access that it provides. The people weep. They want to see God.

The beauty of the coming of Jesus is access to God. The law has been fulfilled: Jesus himself is the Way. The Spirit of the Lord is upon him. The kingdom has come. The law has swept into all its glory in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The love of God has come in human form.

Today’s Gospel is the hush before Jesus’ ministry starts. Something beautiful is about to begin.

Consider/Discuss

Luke begins the story of Jesus today, a story of healing and redemption and God’s self-gift. In these hushed winter nights, read through the whole Gospel to get the sweep of the symphony. How does the beauty of the whole story touch you?
Many nights, I listen to Itzhak Perlman play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major before I fall asleep. The beauty of it leads me into the hush of prayer. St. Augustine prays, “Late have I loved thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved thee.” How do you allow beauty to lead you to God the Beautiful?

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, Holy Conductor, hush our noise. As you lift your baton, help us to focus our eyes on you and get ready to play. You give each of us a different instrument, a different part, a unique role in the symphony of life. St. Paul asks us to play our part faithfully. As we head into Ordinary Time in these ordinary days, we don’t know what this New Year will hold. But we believe that your desire is to create something beautiful—liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed. Direct us in our part toward that beauty. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory!