Homily for Word of God Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. The Gospel of St. Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21. Theme: Most Excellent Theophilus...
Today is Word of God Sunday. Pope Francis instituted this observance several years ago as a reminder that God has spoken to us through the mouth of his Son, Jesus Christ. And this Word of God, written down in Scripture, is so vital to us that we spread it out over time and read segments of it every day in our liturgy. In 2022, the Sunday gospel readings will come mostly from the Gospel of St. Luke, and so, I think it might be helpful for us to review what we mean by the word “gospel” and to learn a little bit about the man chosen to compose it. And of course hopefully figure out what all this might mean for you and me today.
The literal meaning of the word “gospel” is good news. In the ancient world there were no means of mass communication, so horse-riders or runners would be sent out to deliver important messages to the villages. And once they arrived they would shout out, “I have gospel…I have good news!” In a similar way, after Pentecost when the first Christians went out as missionaries, they were like those runners who burst into the villages shouting, “I have gospel…I have good news!” Of course, the people would eagerly ask what it was and so the apostles would reply with something like: “The good news is that God himself has become human in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, died and buried but who has risen up from the dead! He has done away with both the penalty of sin and the finality of death by offering those who wish it a way to spiritual freedom and the gift of eternal life.”
The Apostles shared this good news with all who would listen and the Word of God spread rather rapidly throughout the empire. But many wondered what would happen once the apostles had left this world? And so, it became vital for them to set down in writing the words of Jesus and the events they had personally experienced. And so, this brings us to the second meaning of the word “gospel”: a written record of what Jesus said and did when He lived on earth as seen and heard by those who knew Him. As you know by now, we have four editions of this written-down Gospel by the evangelists (which means “gospel writers”) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Matthew and John were companions of Jesus from the time he was baptized in the Jordan River until the day he returned to Heaven. They were members of his band of brothers, the Twelve Apostles. Mark was a very young man, perhaps even a child, when he and his mother became disciples of Jesus. All three of these evangelists were Jewish, born and raised in Israel. But Luke is different from them in many ways. And so is his approach to composing the written gospel. He was not Jewish but was a Gentile, born in Syria. And so he saw things from a different perspective. He was also a well-educated physician and not a fisherman or tax collector like the others. So he had a solid educational-medical background that influenced the writing of his gospel stories. Because he came from a Greek and not Jewish culture, Luke was attracted to stories and persons in Jesus’ life that show his compassion for the outsider and the outcast, for the poor and the sick, for women and children. These were all categories of people who were typically frowned upon in proper Jewish society.
And most interestingly, unlike the other evangelists, Luke had a wealthy benefactor. A man named Theophilus commissioned Luke’s gospel-writing project and most likely funded it. This sponsor wanted assurance that all he had heard and been told about Jesus of Nazareth was true. And he was willing to pay for this certainty! We hear about this relationship between Theopilus and Luke in the opening verses of today’s gospel. And I think that’s a good reflection point for us in asking how the Good News by St. Luke has meaning for us today.
You see, I truly believe that at some point in our lives each one of us is like Most Excellent Theophilus. That is, we are attracted to the person and message of Jesus Christ, we see its goodness and its beauty, but we also see that it will ask quite a bit of us. It will launch us off to a lifetime of change and growth in our relationship with God and with others. It will require stability in our commitment to Christ, obedience to his Word, and an ongoing conversion of our hearts. And so, like Theophilus, we want to know, we need to know, that what we have heard and learned and believe about Jesus Christ is trustworthy and true.
This is why it’s vitally important for us to realize that the gospels honestly hand on to us what Jesus really said and did when He lived on earth. They are not creative fairytales of faith or fabricated religious fables. They are the memoirs, so to speak, of the personal experiences of the apostles, who sealed the truth of their testimony by the shedding of their blood for Christ. When we read Luke’s gospel, we are delving into the work of an investigative reporter who spent a great deal of time and energy researching everything that he had heard about Jesus of Nazareth. He interviewed the eye witnesses, including the Blessed Mother, and collected their stories. He was thus also able to compare and contrast many experiences to judge their trustworthiness. And he learned that the greatest thing they all experrienced was the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead! Though he had been tortured, crucified and buried they encountered him alive again and spent 40 days eating with, talking to and learning from him. The Resurrection was the ultimate sign and absolute proof of who Jesus really was and it confirmed the truth of his teachings as well.
Luke’s gospel helps us to learn about Jesus, but what we do with that knowledge is up to each one of us. We have heard the good news and have been offered the way to spiritual freedom, the path to eternal life. Are we going to accept the offer? Are we going to truly commit ourselves, our lives, to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Are we going to embrace his gospel and give it meaning, give it flesh and bone in our lives? These are the questions our Holy Father Pope Francis would like us to ask ourselves and reflect upon as we observe this Sunday of the Word of God.
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