Cycle C - Year II:  

23 January 2022: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Nehemiah 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27 (12:12-30)

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 

The Good News is proclaimed!

We go back to the liturgical period of Ordinary Time after the Christmas Season and the series of solemnities and special feasts. This Sunday is the third in Ordinary Time.

In the Catholic liturgical calendar Ordinary Time is that part of the yearly cycle of 33 or 34 weeks in which there is no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ in all its fullness is observed.  The liturgical color of the priest's vestment and the altar cloth changes to Green.

St. Luke narrates the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in His homeland of Galilee and taught in their synagogues.  Our Lord came to Nazareth, where He had grown up and went to the synagogue on the sabbath day according to His custom.  He read from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, who had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit and bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and evil. (Isaiah 61:1-2)  After reading this particular passage, Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesy in their hearing.

Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ came to set us free from the worst tyranny of slavery to sin and fear of death, and the eternal destruction of both body and soul.  Even in our time, we know and believe that God's power alone can save us from the emptiness and poverty of spirit, from confusion and error, from hopelessness and the fear of annihilation.  The Gospel of salvation is also "good news" for us today.  For Jesus came with the good news that God cares for the poor, the captives, the handicapped, and all the unhappy people in our midst.

There is another point in our reflection for today. Did you notice that our Gospel reading includes the introduction of St. Luke's Gospel? (Lk 1:1-4)

The preface or prologue of a book contains important principles, or directions, for reading the rest of the book. In the case of St. Luke's Gospel, the prologue contains important direction and clarification for reading and understanding all of Sacred Scripture.

In the Introduction to his Gospel, St. Luke indicates the importance of the Church and of Tradition in our Catholic faith. St. Luke explains that even before he wrote his "account" of the Gospel, there already existed the Church and the oral tradition -- literally, the "handing down"-- of faith.  St. Luke is making a point that he did not invent a story or was he teaching something new in his Gospel account.  Rather, as a faithful Christian, St. Luke handed on the truth about Christ which he also received from the Church.

Thus, from the very start of his Gospel account, St. Luke conveys the simple fact that the Church existed before the Gospels were written, and in fact the Church wrote the Gospels.  Then, it follows that to read Scripture outside of the Church's Tradition is to take it out of context, or like reading it without  the guide of a teacher.  Because we need a teacher to explain Scripture. And that one teacher is the Church herself, and the method of instruction is through Tradition.

Let us pray for God's grace to listen only to the official teaching of the Church on matters of faith.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!