THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. YEAR C

III ORDINARY SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY 2025: NEH 8. 2-4, 5-6, 8-10; 1 COR 12. 12-14, 27; LUKE 1. 1-4; 4.14-21 Focus: All of us are entrusted with a specific mission on this earth. This mission is the very same mission of the Lord. This is to be fulfilled here and now in fidelity to God and fraternity toward one another 1. Today once again we have in the gospel the famous mission manifesto of the Lord. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor and a year of the Lord’s favor; liberty to the captives and oppressed and sight to the blind”. We had already reflected more than a couple of times on the same passage. Very often the same text is also used on Ordination days or anniversary days. 2. In the first place, this text very clearly lays accent on the mission of every one of us as the followers of the Lord. It ignites a sense of mission and charges us with the duty of mission. It reminds us that we are mission-directed and mission-imbued people. It also indicates that all of us are sharers in the same mission of the Lord and are expected to continue and fulfill the same. 3. This first thought must make us reflect and see the depth and intensity of our sense of mission. How many followers of the Lord are really imbued and animated by the spirit of mission? How many are really missionaries, true to the name? How many can really say that we carry out the same mission of Jesus in word and deed? 4. The Lord affirmed, “Today this text is being fulfilled in your hearing”. How confident and convincing he was! Such confidence and conviction can spring only from a deep honesty and truthfulness. One who is not genuine, one who is not really faithful to his mission, one who is not clear about his mission, cannot be so convincing. 5. How many of today can in all confidence affirm, “Today the Lord’s message, his mission is being fulfilled in and through me and my mission”? How many can really affirm, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; He has anointed me”? How many can really say that I bring good news and good times to the poor, liberty to the captives, and sight and light to the blind? Is it really good news or bad news? Is it really good times or bad times? Is it really freedom or slavery? Is it really light and sight or darkness and unclarity? 6. Unfortunately, today in the case of many, the mission manifesto is mostly limited to the level of proclamation. Mission in the case of many has become equal to mere preaching of the Word. We see a new evangelization almost reduced to eloquence and rhetoric, or some scattered charity or religious activities but devoid of a life-witness. 7. A true fulfillment of the mission manifesto must comprise a humble surrender and fidelity to God’s will and precepts and a profound fraternal bonding and coordination. These are the two aspects that are strongly conveyed respectively in the first reading from Nehemiah and in the second reading from 1 Corinthians. 8. The people acclaim their wholehearted obedience to God at Ezra’s proclamation of God’s word. St Paul emphasizes the oneness and inseparable communion and coordination that exist among the different parts of the body. The limbs may be different, their functions may be diverse but they belong to the same body; all of them contribute to the wellbeing of one and the same body, and the same person. The good or the bad of one limb certainly affects the other limbs as well. Direction: Fidelity to God and fraternity with one another are the concrete manifestations as well as the effective means of an authentic mission and its fulfillment. There is no mission without obedience to God and benevolence to others!

EPIPHANY 25

EPIPHANY 2025, 05 JANUARY: ISAIAH 60. 1-6; EPH 3. 2-3a; MATTHEW 2. 1-12 Thrust: God reveals! Indicative: God revealed Himself in many different ways in course of history. But when the fullness of time had come, He had revealed Himself in and through His own Son, Jesus Christ 1. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany comes from the Greek word that means “to reveal”. It is the day of God’s revelation. In fact, on the day of Christmas itself, God reveals Himself in His Incarnate Son as the Saviour. 2. But Epiphany marks a special and unique day of God’s revelation. It is on that day the three kings or magi or wise men from the East come and pay homage to him. Thus, God reveals and manifests His divine glory to the whole universe symbolised by the three magi. 3. Epiphany as God’s revelation indicates that God’s salvation through the Incarnation of His Son is open to all. It does not exclude or discriminate against anyone. Though He is born in a particular place and at a particular time, His grace is not limited or conditioned, or restricted. 4. In this sense, Epiphany is a strong caution against all the exclusive, discriminatory and sectarian tendencies and attempts to promote and perpetuate divisions and discriminations, hatred, and hostility, in the name of God and religion. 5. God is not a “private property” of anyone. His grace is for all. His revelation and manifestation cannot be “domesticated” or “barricaded”. Religion is not a prohibited territory where God is safely protected or bound! 6. Thus, Epiphany is a clarion call against all senseless religious fanaticism, and communal violence. It is absurd that some frenzy and highly inflated people claim themselves to be “religious” and act irreligiously. 7. They degenerate into inhuman cruelty inflicting untold violence on others. They install themselves as self-appointed and self-proclaimed ‘saviours’ and ‘protectors’ of God Himself. Who makes them petty “gods” over God Himself? 8. In fact, God’s revelation has not yet reached and touched these people. In the name of disclosing God to others, they are only closing God’s grace. These are exactly like king Herod in the gospel. When he hears about the birth of the Messiah, he is disturbed and agitated. He regards the newborn king of hearts as a threat to his throne. He plots evil to terminate the incarnate God. 9. In contrast, today this celebration of Epiphany invites us to think and act like the three magi. They were truly wise. They see in him the Saviour and Liberator of the world. They long to encounter him personally. They use human resources like intelligence, knowledge, scriptures, astronomy, et cetera to discern and discover his presence. 10. Their spirit of yearning, search, and determination is such that they undertake a challenging journey. They are also docile to accept God’s “special assistance” in the form of a star. God’s ways are so caring that the star guides them to the incarnate Saviour. Commendable is their humility and surrender that they kneel before the Lord and pay homage to him. 11. Their human effort was richly rewarded. They could encounter the Saviour of the world. It was a rare grace and privilege that was not granted to many around him itself. Imperative: Like the three wise men, we are also called to constantly journey toward God in a spirit of search and surrender. Only such a spirit would lead us to a personal encounter and loyalty to God