Cycle A

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Today’s readings teach us that Our Lord has come to bring us light, liberty, and unity.

In today’s First Reading Isaiah speaks of the moment when Israel will be delivered from the prolonged darkness and oppression it has suffered as a result of its infidelity to God. The darkness of Israel was giving way to a great light, symbolizing the passage from sorrow and oppression to freedom and joy. That moment is described as being like the joy of the harvest: a harvest is the end of a great deal of work, patience, and anxiety. You never know how the weather will fare, whether locusts are on the horizon, and so on. You work hard, but in the end you need the Lord to bring the harvest to completion. Isaiah also makes it clear that the great light is also a liberation from oppression and slavery, evoking indirectly the joy the Israelites felt when they were led out of Egypt by Moses at the Lord’s command. In describing Midian Isaiah is referring to the story of Gideon in the Book of Judges (see Judges 8-9). Gideon defeated the Midianites with a small, select force, and credited the Lord with the victory. Isaiah uses this story to show that it is the Lord who’ll deliver Israel from oppression, not their own strength or prowess.

In today’s Second Reading Paul shows that the Lord does not just liberate us. He also wants us united around him and working with him. Paul is chiding the Corinthians because they are claiming some special provenance based on whoever baptized them or whoever was the most eloquent preacher. Their evangelizers want them united in mind and purpose around Christ and his Gospel as Christians. They were baptized in Christ, not in Paul, Cephas, or Apollos. In doing that they are giving credit where credit is due: Paul rightly reminds them that it was Christ who was crucified for their sins, not him. If they don’t give credit where credit is due, people will not be led to Christ.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord is revealed by Matthew to be that light of liberation and joy spoken of by Isaiah. The fulfillment of a prophecy is not always textbook; it doesn’t happen to the letter. Everything Our Lord said, did, and lived during his earthly mission has something to say, and, in this case, settling in Capernaum shows that light of liberation arriving to a people with a pagan past, an allusion to the darkness and oppression caused by their past infidelities. Our Lord also calls his first disciples today. His light draws others to him not only so that they can see the way, but so that they can someday light the way to Christ as well.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us light the path to him so that others may follow him.

Readings: Isaiah 8:23–9:3; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14; 1 Corinthians 1:10–13, 17; Matthew 4:12–23.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Today’s readings teach us not only that we were born to serve and to shine, but that we were created for that purpose. If we embrace that calling Our Lord will exceed all our expectations, because his plans not only encompass our noble ones, but goes way beyond them. We see that in the case of St. John the Baptist, and we also see it in the calling of every believer.

Isaiah in today’s First Reading speaks of Israel’s calling: to serve God for his glory as well as for their own. Israel is called to be the Lord’s servant and to show God’s glory. We were created to serve the Lord and he promises we’ll be glorious in his sight and strengthened by him. That service, at times demanding and thankless, is meant to make the Lord’s glory shine far beyond ourselves. Isaiah today reminds us we’re called to be “a light to the nations,” and through that light salvation will reach to the ends of the earth. We’re called to serve and to shine out of no one’s vanity, but to help the Lord’s salvation extend to the ends of the earth.

Paul in today’s Second Reading seconds this lofty calling to serve and to shine. We serve and shine by seeking to do what the Lord asks of us and through striving to live a holy life. In his initial greeting to the Corinthians Paul identifies himself as called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ because it is God’s will that he be one. We serve the Lord by doing his will. He reminds the Corinthians that they are “called to be holy.” Through a life of holiness we become that light to the nations and help Our Lord bring that good work to completion in each person. The good work is not meant to just remain and be nourished in each one of us: it’s a gift God wants us to give to others as well. Whatever our walk of life, God calls us to be holy, as the dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, teaches us: “The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one—that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God, and who obey the voice of the Father and worship God the Father in spirit and in truth. These people follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to be worthy of being sharers in His glory. Every person must walk unhesitatingly according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path of living faith, which arouses hope and works through charity” (LG 42).

John the Baptist in today’s Gospel served the Lord as his prophet and knew part of his calling was to put the spotlight on Our Lord and his mission, not on himself: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” If John the Baptist shines in the fulfillment of his mission, he shines in order to light the way to Christ, the reason for his mission. John is not just called to serve, but to shine. He does not just recognize in Our Lord the signs that the Spirit had promised him; he testifies to them so that others would also get the message. A source of illumination draws our attention, but it also illuminates something else. Our Lord himself, later in John’s Gospel, would describe John as a burning and shining lamp (see John 5:35-36), but that John was meant to shine on the path to Christ. John himself in today’s Gospel admits that the Lord outranks him before he existed before John was even created. The light of his mission pales in comparison to the true light that was coming to enlighten every man: Christ (cf. John 1:9).

Let’s ask the Lamb today to help us not only to serve, but to shine.

Readings: Isaiah 49:3, 5–6; Psalm 40:2, 4, 7–10; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3; John 1:29–34. See also Christmas, January 3rd.

Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A

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The Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew recount the Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan, but only in Matthew’s account, which we hear in today’s liturgy, does John the Baptist seem taken aback by the fact that Jesus is requesting baptism from the one who should be baptized by him. John is baptizing sinners, and he knows Our Lord is not a sinner, so why does he need baptism? Through this gesture Our Lord is expressing his solidarity with sinners; we know he will take their sins upon himself and destroy them upon the Cross, and the reality of humanity after Original Sin is that they need the grace of Christ, ordinarily through baptism, to be delivered from its effects.

Our Lord begins his public ministry by receiving his baptism at the hands of John, and this momentous occasion leads to a theophany where Son, Spirit (descending like a dove) and Father (a voice in the heavens) show they’re ready to begin the work of salvation in earnest: through the waters of baptism mankind begins its journey back to God. Thanks to Our Lord, mankind will be pleasing to the Father after a long, dark history since the Fall. The quiet work of justice prophesied by Isaiah in today’s First Reading has begun, a work that will reach beyond the Jews to all the nations, as represented by the story of Cornelius’ conversion in today’s Second Reading.

Today Our Lord’s work shifts from the Incarnation and the quiet years at Nazareth to the spotlight of his public ministry. Let’s make a resolution this year to bring his Gospel into the spotlight in our lives as well.

Readings: Isaiah 42:1–4, 6–7; Psalm 29:1–4, 9–10; Acts 10:34–38; Matthew 3:13–17. See also The Baptism of the Lord, Cycle C (1st Sunday in Ordinary Time).

 

Holy Family, Cycle A

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In today’s Gospel we see Our newborn Lord living the same travails of his people, and so many peoples, suffering persecution and slavery. Like his ancestors, Jesus and his family are forced to go to Egypt, but this time is different, because the future liberator does not fall into slavery there, and returns from exile to Israel in a new Exodus, a recurring theme of the prophets. He also lived, as many of his fellow Jews of the time, away from Israel in the diaspora, and even when he returned home he could not live in his native Bethlehem, but in Nazareth. Despite the travail of his first years of earthly life, the evil designs of Herod ultimately fail, and in their darkness the light of the Savior, fulfilling prophecies despite the dire events that cost innocent lives, shone ever more brightly.

Today’s feast is not only about Our Lord’s exile and return to Israel. It is about what makes a holy family. Mary welcomed life as part of God’s plan, and Joseph, despite some initial confusion, took Mary as his wife because the Lord revealed it was his will. The Holy Family supported each other when times became tough; not everyone in a family can contribute equally, but, as the First and Second Readings remind us today, everyone, through their virtue, contributes to the well-being of their parents, their siblings, and beyond. A family that sticks together can face any trial, and the key to that is prayer. As Fr. Patrick Peyton used to preach, “The family that prays together, stays together.” Joseph, when faced with hard decisions, listened to what the Lord had to say through angels and dreams, and his decisions were shaped by what God wanted. Mary’s whole life was a fiat to the plans of God. Our infant Lord couldn’t be in better hands.

Let’s pray that all families today, especially those in difficulty, be united in God. Through prayer and virtue let’s pray that they strengthen their existing bonds of love and restore those broken by trial.

Readings: Sirach 3:2–6, 12–14; Psalm 128:1–5; Matthew 2:13–15, 19–23. See also Holy Family, Cycle C.

4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle A

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As the saying goes, it is always darkest before the dawn, but the dawn also represents the light growing brighter and brighter. This Sunday the light of the Advent wreath is full because we are close to the dawn of our salvation through the birth of Our Lord: God will soon visibly be with us after nine months in his mother’s womb.

In today’s First Reading Isaiah makes a prophecy that a a virgin will conceive and bear a son named Emmanuel (“God is with us”). Matthew in today’s Gospel shows that prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, and also the source of Joseph’s confusion and dilemma: Mary’s fidelity to the marriage agreement their families had already made was called into question. Was the engagement off? Joseph was leaning in that direction when the angel helped him see the path forward: this was all part of God’s plan.

Joseph went from quietly considering his options to experiencing a revelation in the fog of a dream. Big, life-impacting decisions often go beyond our mental calculus, beyond reassuring certainties: things get fuzzy and foggy. Big decisions imply risk. We can either decide in fear and uncertainty or in faith and trust in Our Lord.

Advent is almost over. Has the Lord sent any angels to you? Christmas break and the impending New Year is a good time for making decisions in faith. God is with you.

Readings: Isaiah 7:10–14; Psalm 24:1–6; Romans 1:1–7; Matthew 1:18–24. See also Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary, Advent, December 18th, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.