3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15
1 Cor 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27
Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Each Sunday at Mass in my parish, I honor the Gospel book by holding it high before the assembly and carrying it slowly to the ambo, the place where I proclaim the Gospel.

In our first reading today, we witness a similar scene. Ezra the priest opens the scroll of God’s law and holds it high for all to see. The people acclaim God present in the Word of God, as they bow low to the ground.

The presence of God in the Word is one of three ways God is present at each Eucharist. We are most familiar with the divine presence in the consecrated bread and wine. God is also present in the gathered assembly. There we’re transformed by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, described by Paul in today’s second reading.

But back to the first reading: Do we pay attention to God’s presence in the Word? Would it be easier if we were in that scene in today’s Gospel, to hear Jesus himself read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth? Perhaps it’s tougher to accept God’s presence when it’s Jim or Mary or Father Bill doing the reading! But our respect for the Gospel book, our attentive listening, our openness to the Spirit are all crucial to full participation in the Eucharist.Let’s allow this Sunday’s readings to call us to a renewed response.

Scripture:

•…for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

•…The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart… (Psalm 19:9)

•…the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, (1 Corinthians 12:22)

•…to bring glad tidings to the poor… to proclaim liberty to captives…to let the oppressed go free, (Luke 4:18)

Reflection:

•Why are the weak more necessary than the strong in the body of Christ?

•What was Jesus’ mission?

•How is the parish the body of Christ?

•How do you participate in the body of Christ?

Because Jesus freely chose to bring good news to the poor and showed a special love for them, Francis wanted to imitate Christ and work with social outcasts and the poor, something he had never imagined himself doing. He had always possessed a generous spirit but struggled to identify with those in need. In fact, he admits in his final testament that the turning point in his conversion was his willingness to serve lepers. The change came when he left behind the security of his social structure and comfortable lifestyle to care for the lepers and the poor, to spend time with them and to eat with them. Living with the poor awakened to him the poverty and suffering of Christ.

Francis’ response to living the gospel challenges the typical social categories that define our lives and keep us isolated from each other. By living amoung the poor lepers and the sick, and by welcoming everyone whether friend or enemy, he prods us towards a wider understanding of community, one in which no one is excluded. He reminds us that God can be found in the poor, sick, lonely, unemployed and powerless because God is known in vulnerability. This image of the vulnerable poor God is the heart of Francis’ spirituality. This is what encourage him to seek out the weakest members of society.