Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, January 30, 2022. Readings: 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Gospel of St. Luke 4:21-30. Theme: Living as Prophets of Love
Very often in our liturgy the gospels take up where we left off on the prior Sunday. And such is the case today, as we drop in on the tail end of a story which we began last week. Recall for a moment that last Sunday we heard about Jesus attending worship services in his hometown of Nazareth. He had read a prophecy from Scripture about the coming of a great prophet who would show forth God’s power and presence. And then, while all his neighbors and relatives were looking on, Jesus informed them that He was that long-hoped-for prophet called and chosen by God.
In today’s continuation of the story, we see that at first the people were impressed. But then they began to recall their experiences with Jesus and how ordinary he was. This was the son of Mary, who as a child played with their kids and went to synagogue school with them. This was Joseph’s boy, who learned the family trade and earned his living as one of the local craftsmen. He was so much like them that he turned out to be too much for them to accept as someone special and sent by God. And so they refused to believe. They turned on Him on that day in Nazareth, and Jesus got not only rejection but also a death threat from the very people with whom He lived, worked and socialized.
I think we can all relate in one way or another to what Jesus experienced. When we try to live the gospel, to truly live our Catholic faith and have it make a difference in our lifestyle, some of our family and friends might react a bit like Jesus’ townsfolk. Our good intentions can be misinterpreted or we might be misunderstood. People might think that we believe we are better than them, when in reality what we are saying by embracing our Christianity is that we are sinners very much in need of God’s grace like everyone else. It's also very possible that we might be rejected by some of those who know us best. That certainly happened to Jesus. But that didn’t deter him from carrying out his mission as a prophet. It didn’t deter him from doing what he was meant to do. And it shouldn’t stop us from carrying out our mission as prophets, either.
When we were baptized and then later confirmed, we each were anointed with sacred chrism oil and this anointing consecrated us as prophets with Jesus. It’s important to understand that calling ourselves prophets isn’t just some noble thought or a motivational idea. Both the New Testament and the ancient teaching of the Church tell us that it's a solid fact! To be consecrated means to be called and chosen. We Christians are consecrated to go out into the world as prophets of the good news that God is love and that this love became flesh and blood reality in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.
So that might make us wonder what does it mean to do this, what does it look like to live as prophets of God who is love? Well, first of all we need to know that being a prophet doesn’t mean foretelling the future as most of us might think. That can, indeed, be part of a prophet’s mission but first of all and most of all, a prophet is someone who communicates God’s Word to others. Now, this can be done both with words and by example, but as all know talk can be cheap and actions speak louder than words, so it is most of all by the way we live and act that we will fulfill our prophetic mission as Christians. And so this is where our second reading today comes to the rescue, so to speak, and shows us what being a prophet of love should look like in everyday life.
While this reading from 1 Corinthians 13 is hands down the most popular Scripture used at weddings, that's not what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote it. Rather, he lays out very clearly for us what it means, what it looks like, to live as a Christian, as a prophet of love in a world that is very self-centered. It means being patient, kind, humble, forgiving, encouraging, uplifting, and hopeful. This is how we are to reflect God to others. This is how we are supposed to treat everyone no matter how they treat us, friend or enemy. You see, the idea is that by witnessing our behavior, people should be able to get a glimpse of what God is like and then want to draw closer to him themselves. This is how we help to grow the Kingdom of God, heart by heart, person to person.
I was on a retreat once, years ago, and the retreat director used this exact reading from 1 Corinthians 13 in giving us a simple spiritual exercise to do. He told us to go back to our rooms and slowly, mindfully, re-read the passage several times, substituting our first names for the word “love” in the reading. By doing this we can see if it is describing us or not…we can take note of how close or how far off the mark we are from living as Christians, that is, as prophets of love. It was a very powerful and enlightening, spiritual experience for me. I urge you to go home and try this yourselves.
Of course, none of us is going to come away from this personal inspection with a perfect score, but that’s why we have the wonderful sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. Jesus gave them to us precisely for the purpose of gradually growing in love. Confession helps us to identify where we tend to be most selfish and gives us grace to overcome what we acknowledge and lay before him. The Eucharist is all about the giving of ourselves to others in love just as Christ gave himself for us. The truly Eucharistic person will find in the frequent and mindful reception of Christ’s Body and Blood the grace, strength and supernatural ability needed to love as Jesus loves, cause we can't just do it on our own.
Now, people might still misunderstand us, they might still misinterpret us and some may still even reject us, but at least we will know that we are being faithful to the call and mission we have received to live as prophets of love. And that, really, is what will matter most to us as we approach our appointed time to leave this world for the next. We will be able to do so with a serene conscience, knowing that we have done our best to live in the most excellent way, the way of love, which as St. Paul tells us, is the greatest life we could have hoped to have lived on planet Earth.
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