Homily for 3d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
3d Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jan. 26, 2020

Is 8: 23—9: 3
Matt 4: 12-23
Ursulines, Willow Dr., New Rochelle, N.Y.

“First the Lord degraded the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles” (Is 8:23).

The territory Isaiah speaks of is in the northern part of the land of Israel.  So it was the 1st territory overrun by various enemies of Israel, most notably by the Assyrians when they conquered the northern kingdom in 722 B.C., deported 9 of the Israelite tribes, and settled new, pagan populations there, making the northernmost section, particularly, a “district of the Gentiles.”

Centuries later, when the Maccabean revolt liberated Israel from Gentile governance for a while, northern Israel—Galilee—was only partially re-assimilated and, it seems, Galilean Jews weren’t fully accepted in Judea.  We catch traces of that in the gospels.

But Isaiah prophesies that the darkness of paganism will be dispelled by a great light; abundant joy and merriment will be brought in; a yoke will be lifted from the shoulders of Israel.

Jesus Preaches at Sea of Galilee (van den Eeckhout)

St. Matthew sees that promise realized with the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  He doesn’t say where Jesus was until John was arrested, other than his 40 days in the wilderness (4:1-11).  St. John’s gospel includes a tantalizing mention that Jesus and his disciples for a time were baptizing in Judea (3:22; 4:1-3)—perhaps imitating John the Baptist’s message.  If that’s so, we can think that John’s arrest suggested to Jesus a prudent retreat to his home territory (Matt 4:12).

And so he becomes the great light for Galilee, overpowering the darkness and the death ruling that region and its people thru paganism, half-hearted fidelity to Torah, sickness, demonic possession, and other ills—overpower these as he preaches repentance and the breaking in of God’s rule.

Pope Francis recently designated the 3d Sunday of Ordinary Time—today—as Sunday of the Word of God.  We already have plenty of “special” Sundays, and the Word of God is supposed to be a feature of every Sunday.  But today’s gospel does stress the Word:  “Jesus began to preach,” and “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…” (4:17,23).

Jesus’ preaching is light for the people of Galilee, for those who assemble in the synagogues on the Sabbath, for people in market squares, at crossroads, and along the shores of the sea of Galilee—along the “seaward road” of Isaiah’s prophecy, the great trade road that ran from Damascus thru Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea.  (That trade route explains the presence of a customs post, where Jesus finds Levi the tax collector.)

Jesus’ preaching brings light also to the Gentiles of Galilee:  Syrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs.  Galilee is a crossroads for merchants, soldiers, and government officials, and Jesus makes his home not in the hills of Nazareth—“What good can come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46)—but in Capernaum by the sea, along the main road.  Matthew informs us, "He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea" (4:13).  He goes to the people, Jews and Gentiles.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1), and they come to the light, attracted by truth and goodness—attracted perhaps even by the challenge of repenting their sins, for Jesus also offers hope:  “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17).

It’s this hope that causes anguish to take wing, that dispels darkness (Is 8:23), a line picked up by the Exsultet proclamation celebrating the light of Christ, which disperses wickedness, sin, and death.

The Word of God that Jesus preached is always open to us.  We have only to listen to it at Mass, to take up our Bibles for reading and prayer, and we too will be taught as the people of Galilee were, brought into the divine light of truth and mercy.  Maybe we also have opportunities to share the Word with others.

How happy, how fortunate, how blessed are we to see this light, to bask in its warmth, to walk in Christ’s light—toward an even more radiant and glorious light!  We look forward to dwelling in the house of the Lord, to gazing on his loveliness (Ps 27:4), to seeing him face to face and knowing him intimately forever and ever (cf. 1 Cor 13:12).