Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the 1962 liturgical calendar, these Sundays after Epiphany are called, inventively enough, Sundays after Epiphany, rather than what we call them now after Vatican II, Sundays in Ordinary Time, or Sundays through the year. And while the pre-Vatican II name didn’t require much imagination, it also didn’t require any serious study to know what the focus of these Sundays would be: the unpacking of the mystery of the Epiphany.
I bring this up because the theme of the Epiphany is how Christ reveals Himself as well as how Christ is the Light to the Nations. And even though we call these Sundays the Sundays in Ordinary Time, the theme or focus is also how Christ reveals Himself. Last week we heard St. John the Baptist point to Jesus and reveal Him to John’s disciples. This week we hear how Christ reveals Himself as a light to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the area that we commonly refer to as Galilee, as well as how Christ reveals Himself to His first apostles: the brothers Peter and Andrew and the brothers James and John.
First, we heard Isaiah and the actual prophecy that, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone.” God promises to bring his people to the light and bring them joy, rather than gloom. When Isaiah wrote this, guided by the Holy Spirit, the immediate context was the return of the Jewish people from exile in Babylon. But the Holy Spirit intended so much more than just a word of hope for a people who had lost their earthly homeland. The Holy Spirit, the Divine Author of the Scriptures, intended to prepare the Jewish people for the day when the Messiah would come who would open up the possibility that those in exile from union with God in Eden, could return to an even better place than Eden, and could dwell with God in heaven. At the Easter Vigil, which we will celebrate in about 10 weeks, we will hear in the Exultet how Christ is the light that dispels the darkness of sin and death, as the new Paschal Candle shines through the dark church and then we share its light to illuminate this temple.
How do we follow that light? How do our lives go from exile from God to union with God? Jesus proclaims the way in our Gospel: “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” God’s grace gives us the power to turn away from the darkness of sin, sin which causes death, and turn towards the light of grace and holiness, which gives us eternal life. God offers a lit candle to us to give us light, but we have to choose to accept it. When we choose our own will over God; when we choose whatever makes our bodies feel good, without reflection on God’s plan; when we seek to dominate others, we reject the light and continue to live in darkness and exile. When we say with our actions, along with our words, “Thy will be done”; when we submit our earthly desires to what leads to heaven; when we see how we can serve others, even if we do exercise legitimate authority over them, we allow God to light our candle and move towards heaven, our true home.
When we hear Apostles, we tend to think of bishops, and maybe even priests. And that is a good instinct, as the bishops are the successors of the apostles, and the priests cooperate with the bishops in continuing the priestly ministry of Christ. However, in the same way that we talk about St. Mary Magdalene as an apostle, we can also recognize our own call to be an apostle: to be someone who is sent out, as I mentioned last week, to proclaim the good news, the Gospel, to those who are still sitting in the shadow of death. By Confirmation especially, we are called to share the light of Christ in our daily lives. That might happen as a student in the way we treat fellow classmates; it might happen in the way that children obey their parents when told to do the dishes or clean their room; it might happen by parents who instruct their children in the faith and show them the love of God the Father; it might happen by sharing our faith at work to give guidance to a person searching for truth; it might happen by a small act of kindness for a person at a restaurant or on the street. There are millions of ways that we can share the light of Christ, each tailored to the vocation to which God has called us.
In these first weeks of Ordinary Time, the first weeks after the Epiphany, I pray that we will continue to meditate on how Christ reveals Himself as the Light of the World. I pray that we recommit ourselves both to receiving more light from Christ and sharing that light with others. And through our reception and sharing of the Light of Christ, may we know abundant joy and great rejoicing, as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied!
