Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Today’s passage from Isaiah maps out the kind of behavior required if one is to enjoy the blessing of the covenant. It proclaims ethical mandates, not religious practices. Communion with God is dependent upon the fulfillment of social responsibility. The blessing that follows such a life is frequently described as some form of light. Light can be a symbol of deliverance, of prosperity, of truth, or of God’s favor. It is associated with life and all of the good things that come with it. Because its meaning here is not explicitly stated, the reference to life can include all of the richness of the symbol.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of their lowly status in society. This lowliness enabled the power and glory of God to shine forth unimpeded through them. He applies this to his own manner of ministry. He insists that there is nothing extraordinary about him, but that will not hamper the spread of the gospel. Quite the contrary; Paul’s ministerial approach was humble and unassuming because he did not want his manner of delivery to get in the way of the dynamism of the gospel. He wanted the faith of the community to be grounded in God and not in the cleverness of a preacher.

Jesus employs two metaphors to characterize the essence of discipleship. First, salt is both essential for life itself and valuable for preserving, seasoning, and purifying food. Its value is in its effect on something else. Applied to disciples, they too are valuable to the extent that they influence others. Second, the disciples are a light that shines forth in the darkness of ignorance or faithlessness, like a city on a mountain or a lamp on a stand in a house. They enlighten others not by words but by their manner of living, a manner of living that declares to the world that the reign of God has indeed been established in their midst, and the age of fulfillment has dawned.

Jan 08 2025

Team “Light for the World!”

My husband and I are season ticket holders for Notre Dame women’s basketball. What we really like to watch is how the players work together as a team. Because women are generally shorter than men, they cannot just run down the court solo and slam the ball into the hoop. They have to work together. Women’s basketball is a team sport.

In today’s reading, Jesus is talking to a team. In the passages “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” the “you” is plural. It might be more accurately translated with a southern accent as “y’all are the light of the world.” We are to be a team. We are not tall enough to knock the lights out of “darkness” by ourselves. We have to work together. The Christian life is a team endeavor.

In the readings for the last several weeks, St. Paul has been berating the Corinthians for their lack of solidarity: You fight over privilege and power! You fight over food! You look first to your own interests! Is this Christian team behavior? He can’t change them through persuasive arguments. He points them to the cross of Christ who models for “y’all” a new way to live.

We are called to be a team. How do we conquer the darkness together? Isaiah says, share food with the hungry. Clothe the naked. Satisfy the needs of the wretched. Then, when we (plural) call for help, “the Lord will answer, ‘Here I am’.” Then our light will rise like dawn out of darkness. Our fans in the stands, the saints of heaven who have played this game before us, will cheer as the lights come up; they will “give praise to our Father” and shout out to us, “Go team!”

Consider/Discuss

Sometimes the darkness feels too great. We cannot overcome it by ourselves. Do you ever get discouraged? Where might the Lord be leading you to become a part of a team that makes a difference in this world?
We are to be a team that is light for the world. On any team, some sit on the sidelines and others actively contribute. Are you willing to train hard enough to get into the game? What spiritual exercises do you need to take up to be stronger?

Living and Praying with the Word

Angels and saints in heaven, pray for our solidarity. Even in the Church, we struggle to play and pray together. But in the battle against the darkness, we need each other, all players on the field. Father, Son, and Spirit, you are one. Strengthen us so that we look past our differences and learn to work together to be one as you are one. Help us be light for the world and salt of the earth, to your glory and praise. St. Paul, pray for us as you prayed for the Corinthian community.

Jan 08 2025

Scripture Study for

This post-exilic Isaiah passage reflects a time when the full restoration of God’s people in the land had yet to materialize. Agricultural and economic conditions led to a general failure to thrive. The people have complained that, although they have fasted and prayed, God has not responded (58:3). Thus, God’s retort: This is the fast I want—to take care of one another, to remove oppression and injustice from among you. Only when God’s people have attended to these traditional, well-known covenantal expectations will they experience full restoration, when God answers and quickly heals their “wound.” This is God’s desire and final intention.

Paul has been arguing that God’s wisdom, God’s way of acting in the world, makes no sense from the perspective of “human wisdom” (1:18–31). Thus it was that when Paul came proclaiming God’s plan of salvation through the cross of Christ (“the mystery of God”), he did not rely on persuasive arguments or “sublimity of words.” Rather, he simply proclaimed what God had done, relying on God— through the Spirit and power—to persuade that Paul spoke the truth. Ultimately for Paul, the Christian message cannot be demonstrated using human logic; its truth can only be shown and believed through the power of God.

Jesus exhorts his disciples that they are charged not just to follow and learn from him, but to manifest the glory of God through their lives. Salt is only useful when it seasons food. Likewise, discipleship is not just for the good of the individual but for others as well; disciples must therefore make sure that they are faithful followers of Christ. Light provides illumination, and is thus a prominent biblical metaphor for the attractive power of God’s teaching and actions for others (for example, Isaiah 2:2–5; 42:6). Just as salt must be salty or it stops being salt, and light that does not illuminate cannot really be light, so Christians in whom others cannot see the glory of God are not really (good) disciples.

Dec 13 2024

In the Presence of the Holy One

Today we witness three encounters with the Holy One in three different settings, but with three similar responses, both immediate and long-term. Isaiah’s vision of God in the temple included angels surrounding God and praising God’s glory. His immediate response was fear and unworthiness at seeing the living God. But God’s compassionate action of purifying his lips leads Isaiah to offer his service.

For Simon Peter, the experience of the holy came when a stranger walked by as Simon was finishing an unsuccessful night of fishing. Jesus got into his boat, taught the crowds first, then turned to Simon. Something in Jesus’ manner must have persuaded Simon to follow his directions. The result was so many fish that the boats almost sank. Simon suddenly knew he was in the presence of the Holy One. Unworthiness and fear flooded his heart, but, as God did with Isaiah, Jesus removed Simon’s fear and Simon followed him.

Paul briefly alludes to his own unworthiness to be an apostle, rooted in his experience of the Holy One on the road to Damascus. He witnesses to God’s grace at work by preaching what has been handed on to him: that Christ died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and appeared to Paul, the least of all the apostles.

An experience of the holy can come to us in church, in the midst of our work, or even when we are heading in a very different direction than the one God has planned for us. Pray God we will respond to it.

Consider/Discuss

Are you are open to the presence of the Holy One in worship and in daily life?
What does it mean to say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed”?

Responding to the Word

O Holy God, we pray that we may be open to recognizing your holy presence wherever and however you show yourself to us. Do not let fear of our unworthiness prevent us from responding to your invitation to serve you in whatever way you ask.

Dec 13 2024

Scripture Study for

The reading from Isaiah reports a visionary experience the prophet had during a liturgical celebration held in the temple. The God of Israel is depicted as supreme among all other gods, since only the mightiest would be sitting on the heavenly throne. This is a bold idea for a vulnerable nation in the throes of political unrest. The threefold acclamation of praise—Holy! Holy! Holy!—expresses the superlative. There is no god as holy as the God of Israel. It is not by accident that, rather than his eyes or his hands, Isaiah’s lips are cleansed. He will, after all, use them to proclaim the word of the Lord.

The reading from Paul contains one of the earliest creedal statements: Christ died, he was buried, he was raised, and he appeared. Paul adds his own name to the list of those who saw the Lord. He likens himself to an aborted fetus, rejected from a womb and not ready for a normal birth. He turns this characterization into a profession of faith. Though once a persecutor, by the grace of God he now toils harder than all the others. His final statement is telling. It makes no difference who preaches the gospel, so long as others hear it and believe.

Simon and those with him in the boat recognize the divine power at work in and through Jesus. Jesus does not provide these fishermen a remarkable catch merely in order to dispel the frustration they experienced after an unsuccessful night of fishing. The miracle became an acted-out prophecy revealing both Jesus’ own mysterious authority and the ministry to which the disciples are being called. Jesus declares that a turning point in their lives has been reached. The commission states, From now on . . . ! The astonishment of the fishermen turns to commitment. They leave everything—the incredible catch, their business, the stability of their homes, families, and neighborhoods—and they follow him.