Exegetical notes and homily themes to get you started this weekend:
1/5/25 – Epiphany
1/12/25 – Baptism of the Lord
1/19/25 – Sunday 2 / Epiphany 2
1/26/25 – Sunday 3 / Epiphany 3
2/2/2025 – Presentation of the Lord
2/9/2025 – Sunday 5/ Epiphany 5
2/16/2025 – Sunday 6 / Epiphany 6
2/23/2025 – Sunday 7 / Epiphany 7
Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Matthew 2: 1-12
THE WORD:
The story of the astrologers and the star of Bethlehem is unique to Matthew’s Gospel. Note that Matthew does not call them “kings” or does he give their names or reports where they came from – in fact, Matthew never even specifies the number of magi (because three gifts are presented to the Child, it has been a tradition since the fifth century to picture “three wise men”). In stripping away the romantic layers that have been added to the story, Matthew’s point can be better appreciated.
A great many First Testament ideas and images are presented in this story. The star, for example, is reminiscent of Balaam’s prophecy that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24: 17). Many of the details in Matthew’s story about the child Jesus parallel the story of the child Moses and the Exodus.
Matthew’s story also provides a preview of what is to come. First, the reactions of the various parties to the birth of Jesus parallel the effects Jesus’ teaching will have on those who hear it. Herod reacts with anger and hostility to the Jesus of the poor who comes to overturn the powerful and rich. The chief priests and scribes greet the news with haughty indifference toward the Jesus who comes to give new life and meaning to the rituals and laws of the scribes. But the magi – non-believers in the eyes of Israel – possess the humility and the openness of mind and heart essential to faith that leads them to seek and welcome the Jesus who will institute the Second Covenant between God and the New Israel.
Secondly, the gifts of the astrologers indicate the principal dimensions of Jesus’ mission:
- gold is a gift fitting for a king, a ruler, one with power and authority;
- frankincense is a gift fitting for a priest, one who offers sacrifice (frankincense was an aromatic perfume sprinkled on the animals sacrificed in the Temple);
- myrrh is a fitting “gift” for someone who is to die (myrrh was used in ancient times for embalming the bodies of the dead before burial).
HOMILY POINTS:
Epiphany calls is to a new vision of the world that sees beyond the walls and borders we have created and to walk by the light which has dawned for all of humankind, a light by which we are able to recognize all men and women as our brothers and sisters under the loving providence of God, the Father of all.
The magi’s following of the star is a journey of faith, a constant search for meaning, for purpose, for the things of God that each one of us experiences in the course of our own lives.
What we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the “stars” we follow. The journey of the magi in Matthew's Gospel puts our own "stargazing" in perspective, calling us to fix our search on the “star” of God’s justice, peace and compassion.
January 12 – Baptism of the Lord [C]
After Jesus was baptized, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22
THE WORD:
Today’s Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River by John. The Christmas season “officially” (liturgically) comes to an end today at the banks of the Jordan. Jesus is no longer the child in a Bethlehem manger but the adult Redeemer making his way to Jerusalem. The good news spoken by the angels continues to unfold; the most wondrous part of the Christ story is yet to be revealed. Today, the same Spirit that “anoints” the Messiah for his mission us to be about the work of Christmas in this new year: to seek out and find the lost, to heal the hurting, to feed the hungry, to free the imprisoned, to rebuild nations, to bring peace to all peoples everywhere.
Luke presents Jesus as the last person to be baptized by John, bringing John’s ministry to completion. Luke describes the scene with many images from the First Testament:
- the sky opens (“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down” – Isaiah 63: 19);
- the Spirit “descended upon him like a dove” (many rabbis likened the wind above the waters at the dawn of Genesis to a dove hovering above its newborn; in employing this image, Luke suggests that, in this Jesus, a new Genesis is about to take place);
- the “voice from heaven” identifies and confirms Jesus as God’s “beloved son.”
Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan becomes the moment of God's “anointing” of his Messiah (the word Messiah means “anointed”) for the work he is about to do.
HOMILY POINTS:
Baptism is more than just a “naming” ceremony but an ongoing process of becoming the people of faith that God calls us to be.
In baptism, we claim the name of “Christian” and embrace all that that holy name means: to live for others rather than for ourselves, in imitation of Christ.
Our baptisms made each one of us the “servant” of today's readings: to bring forth in our world the justice, reconciliation and enlightenment of Christ, the “beloved Son” and “favor” of God.
In baptism, the same Spirit of compassion, justice and peace that “descends” upon Jesus at his baptism by John descends and rests upon us, compelling us to take on the work of the Gospel.
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January 19 – Second Sunday of the Year [C] / Second Sunday after Epiphany [C]
At a wedding feast in Cana, Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water . . . Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
John 2: 1-11
THE WORD:
Today’s Gospel is John’s account of Jesus’ first great “sign”: the transformation of water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. For the churches of the East, the miracle at Cana is the fourth great event of their celebration of the Lord’s Epiphany or manifestation to the world (the first three: his birth at Bethlehem, the adoration of the magi and his baptism at the Jordan by John).
Cana evokes two important Scriptural symbols that point to the Messiahship of Jesus:
First, wine in abundance was considered a sign for Israel of the Messianic age to come (one example: Isaiah 54: 5-14, Reading 4 for the Easter Vigil). The water in the six large stone jars used for the ritual washings mandated by the first covenant law is transformed by Jesus into Messianic wine, prefiguring the new covenant to be sealed in Jesus' blood (which we celebrate in the wine of the Eucharist).
Second, the limitless love of God for his people is described throughout Scripture in terms of marriage. Today's first reading from Isaiah is a beautiful example of this tradition. It is the strongest (yet still far from perfect) image we have to understand the depth of God's love for his holy people.
The evangelist John pulls together these two power Messianic symbols of wine and marriage together to introduce the public ministry of Jesus, the promised Messiah and bridegroom.
A final note: In verse 4 of today's Gospel, Jesus is not as brusque toward his mother as he sounds to us in the English translation of the text. The address “Woman” was a common courteous form of address in Jesus' time. We do not have in modern English an equivalent of this idiomatic expression.
HOMILY POINTS:
The love of God is manifested at its most powerful in the love between husband and wife, in marriages that are sacraments, in marriages in which Christ is the always-present Wedding Guest.
As ministers of the marriage sacrament, husbands and wives, in their love for one another, mirror for all of us the great love of God in our midst.
At Cana, Jesus offers for the first time the “new wine” of Gospel hope and re-creation. We, too, are called to see our world with eyes of faith in order that we might bring the possibilities of such hope – hope that transforms hurt into reconciliation, despair into confidence, alienation into community.
January 26 – Third Sunday of the Year [C] / Third Sunday after Epiphany [C]
Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the message where it was written: The Spirit of the LORD is upon me . . .
Jesus said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21
THE WORD:
Luke, the author of this year’s cycle of Gospel readings, is a “second generation” Christian. Greek by birth and physician by profession, he was a traveling companion of Paul, through whom he met Mark and perhaps Peter himself. He writes his Gospel mainly for Gentiles like himself: for Luke, this Jesus fulfills not only Jewish dreams but every people's hopes for wholeness and holiness.
Luke’s Gospel reflects a scientist’s precision in locating dates, places and people; but Luke's Gospel also exhibits an interest in people rather than ideas. His account celebrates the compassion of Jesus for the outcasts and “second class citizens” of Jewish society, including and especially women.
Luke begins his Gospel in the classic Greek historical style by personally (he is the only one of the four evangelists who ever refers to himself in the first person) assuring his readers (addressed in the singular “Theophilus,” Greek for “friend of God”) of the historical accuracy and theological authenticity of the research he has gathered to assemble this story.
According to Luke’s account, Jesus begins his teaching ministry in Galilee. Galilee – a name which comes from the Hebrew word for circle – was a great agricultural region encircled by non-Jewish nations and cultures, thereby earning a reputation for being the most progressive and least conservative area of Palestine. A teacher with a “new” message such as this Rabbi Jesus would be expected to receive a favorable hearing in the openness of Galilean society.
Jesus returns to his hometown, the Galilean city of Nazareth. Nazareth was a city of great importance in Israel’s history and economy, located on the major routes to Jerusalem, Alexandria and Damascus. In the Nazareth synagogue (the places where local Jewish communities outside of Jerusalem would gather for teaching and prayer), Jesus announces, using the words of the prophet Isaiah, the fulfillment of God's promise of a Messiah for Israel.
HOMILY POINTS:
Today we hear in the opening words of Luke’s Gospel his reason for compiling his Gospel. He writes for Theophilus “so that [you] may see how reliable the instruction you have received.” This story of Jesus who comes to “proclaim glad tidings to the poor . . . to announce a year of favor from the Lord” should make a profound difference in the lives of all who hear it. In his humanity, Jesus reveals a God who is approachable and present to us in all that is good and right and loving around us.
While Israel longed for a Messiah who would lead them to victory and vindication, Jesus the Messiah comes with a much different message of humility, reconciliation, compassion and forgiveness. The “good news” of the Gospel calls to become rather than to shun, to lift up rather than condemn, to seek the humble of way servanthood rather than the satisfaction of self-righteousness.
In the Father’s Son, Isaiah’s vision of a world transformed and reconciled in God’s peace and justice is fulfilled; in God’s Christ, God re-creates us and our world in the light of grace and the spirit of compassion. In baptism, we take on the work of “fulfilling” Isaiah’s vision of healing, justice and reconcilliation in our own “civilizations.”
Isaiah’s vision read by Jesus in today’s Gospel includes us: We make Isaiah’s vision a reality in our own Nazareths in every act of hope we make happen, in every kindness prompted by God’s grace. As witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, as baptized disciples of his church, we inherit the Spirit’s call to “bring glad tidings” and “proclaim the Lord’s favor” to the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed and the helpless.
February 2: The Presentation of the Lord [ABC]
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and a sign to be contradicted —and you yourself a sword will pierce— so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
“There was also a prophetess, Anna . . . And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about this child to all who were waiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:34-35
THE WORD:
The Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord is observed on February 2, forty days after Christmas. This ancient feast celebrates the faithful, devout parents of Jesus fulfilling two requirements of the Law:
The Book of Exodus required a first-born son to be formally “presented” to God because the first-born sons “belong” to the Lord who saved them when the Egyptian first-born perished at the Passover (Exodus 13: 15).
Under Mosaic Law (Leviticus 12: 2-8), a woman was ritually “unclean” for forty days after childbirth, unable to touch anything sacred or enter the temple area. At the end of this period, she was to present herself to the priests and offer a sacrifice of thanks – for a poor couple like Mary and Joseph, the offering was two pigeons or doves.
Luke’s Gospel (and today’s solemnity) emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple rather than Mary’s purification. In Luke’s account, Jesus was welcomed into the Temple by two venerable elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. For Luke, the two are icons of the faithful Jew—the “remnant” (Zephaniah 3:12) who awaits the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel’s covenant of justice and compassion with God. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Anointed of the Lord and his canticle (the Nunc Dimitis, prayed at the close of the day at Compline in the Liturgy of the Hours) prophesies that this Child will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In blessing the parents, he warns that this child will be a sign opposed and that Mary will be pierced with a sword. It is the first indication of the cross Christ will take up to realize the salvation of humankind. Anna, as an elderly widow, is considered among the most vulnerable and poor of society. Her encounter with the child typifies the theme woven throughout Luke's Gospel: the exaltation of society's poorest and most humble by God.
Inspired by the words of the Simeon’s canticle, by the 11th century, the custom developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation (which became popularly known as Candlemas). The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung.
HOMILY POINTS:
To raise a child is an experience of both incredible joy and devastating heartbreak. Every parent’s life is “pieced” with turmoil, disappointment, illness, desperation, and fear. Certainly every mom and dad knows what Mary and Joseph went through. Within our families, our sons and daughters embrace and are embraced by the love we have known and seek to know better, to be grasped by the hand of God who has grasped us by the hand.
The prophet Simeon proclaims that this Child will be a “light” for Israel — but that light will endure great suffering and pain before finally shattering the darkness. Luke’s Gospel of the Child Jesus reminds us that the crib is overshadowed by the cross, that this holy birth is the beginning of humankind’s rebirth in the Resurrection.
In Baptism, we incorporate our children into the life of the Risen Christ; within our home, we try to guide them in learning the Gospel values of compassion, love, forgiveness, justice and peace that we have embraced. Our celebration of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple calls us to recommit ourselves to giving our sons and daughters the best that we have – our faith in the God who loves us -- so that they may grow “and become strong, be filled with wisdom; and the favor of God upon them.”
Anna and Simeon live among us today in our own families and communities and "temples." They inspire gratitude and teach compassion by the lessons of their long lives. In the wisdom that comes with age, in the love and care they extend to us in their grace and joy, in their faith that has been made strong and unshakable through a lifetime of struggle, the Anna’s and Simeon’s of our time and place are rays of God’s light shining through all of our lives, illuminating the way to God's eternal dwelling place.
February 9 – Fifth Sunday of the Year [C] / Fifth Sunday after Epiphany [C]
After he had finished speaking to the crowds from Simon’s boat, Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch . . .
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
Luke 5: 1-11
THE WORD:
Commercial fishing has always been a hard way to make a living. It is hard work, sometimes with little or no reward; it requires a substantial investment of time and money for boat and gear and their maintenance; it entails considerable risk in leaving the safety of homeport for the open sea; it compels crews to work together to bring in the catch. The work of the prophet/disciple demands that same kind of hard work, risk, personal investment, patience, and sense of community.
The best fishing, Peter and his brothers knew, was done at night; little is caught during the heat of the day. So Peter’s agreeing to lower his nets at Jesus’ urging was, for a fisherman of Peter’s experience, an act of considerable faith. And as today's Gospel recounts, Peter’s faith is rewarded abundantly. If the first disciples of Jesus had any special grace at all, it was an openness to Jesus' call and teaching.
In Luke’s account, Peter’s reaction is somewhat surprising. Upon realizing who Jesus is, he cowers away. In the light of Christ's revelation, Peter recognizes his own unworthiness and humbleness in the sight of God. But Jesus assures him he has not come to drive sinners from his presence but to bring them back to God – to catch them in “net” of God’s love.
HOMILY POINTS:
To be a “catcher of souls” demands possessing enough love to extend ourselves and reach out and “catch” and enough faith that God will give us the grace to make the “grab.”
Jesus challenges us to lower our nets in the “deep water” – to risk our own security and comfort for the sake of the Gospel values of compassion justice and reconciliation.
In the ordinary events of every day we are presented with countless opportunities to uncover the extraordinary love of God in our own times and place.
Many of us suffer from an “inferiority complex” when it comes to God: we are neither saintly enough nor good enough nor wise enough in church protocols to consider ourselves “religious.” The reality, however, is that God works through men and women who are just like us, however imperfect.
February 16 – Sixth Sunday of the Year [C] / Sixth Sunday after Epiphany [C]
“Blessed are you who are poor . . . but woe to you who are rich . . . ”
Luke 6: 17, 20-26
THE WORD:
In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of “Beatitudes,” but in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, Jesus drops a series of bombshells. He takes the accepted standards of the times and turns them upside down: To those who are considered the “haves” of society, Jesus warns “Woe to you!” – wealth and power are not the stuff of the kingdom of God; but to the “have nots,” Jesus says, “Happy and blessed are you” – love, humble selflessness, compassion and generosity are the treasure of God's realm. Jesus promises his followers poverty, suffering, persecuting and grief -- but their hope in God will be rewarded with perfect and complete joy. In Luke’s Gospel, the “blessed” are those who see beyond their own needs and wants in the present moment to work for a better future not only for themselves but for others — but “woe” to those, Jesus warns, who seek their own “fill” now with no concern for the future or for others.
This will be a constant theme throughout Luke’s Gospel: Jesus teaches that wealth and power are not the stuff of the reign of God, but humility, selflessness and compassion are the treasures of God’s kingdom.
HOMILY POINTS:
In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus challenges us to put aside the “woe” of self-centeredness and embrace the “blessedness” that can only be experienced by seeing ourselves not as the center of the world but as a means for transforming the world for the “blessedness” of all.
Luke's version of the Beatitudes challenges everything our consumer-oriented society holds dear. While wealth, power and celebrity are the sought-after prizes of our world, the treasures of God's reign are love, humble selflessness, compassion and generosity. In freeing ourselves from the pursuit of the things of this world, we liberate ourselves to seek the lasting things of God.
To be the among the “blessed” envisioned by Jesus means to put aside our own poverty and hunger and our own positions and reputations to extend the compassion of Jesus to others; to provide, regardless of the cost, safe places for the lost to return, the grieving to mourn, to the wounded to heal.
February 23 – Seventh Sunday of the Year [C] / Seventh Sunday after Epiphany [C]
“Love your enemies and do good to them, and lend them expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great . . .
“Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you . . . ”
Luke 6: 27-38
THE WORD:
Continuing his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus again turns upside down another accepted standard of Jewish morality. The principle of “do to no one what you yourself dislike” (as articulated in Tobit 4: 15) was not enough for those who seek to be God's holy people. Jesus demands that his disciples “love your enemies.”
The Greek word for love used in this text is agape, a sense of benevolence, kindness and charity towards others. In other words, no matter what a person does to us we will never allow ourselves to seek anything but the highest good for him or her. The radical love of God that is the mark of the Christian is presented clearly and emphatically here. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus calls us not just to passive adherence to the standard of the “Golden Rule,” but to actively seek out the good in everyone, to risk being duped or hurt in our compassion and forgiveness of another. The completeness and limitlessness of God's own love and mercy for us should be the measure of our love and mercy for one another.
HOMILY POINTS:
In every relationship, in every set of circumstances, the faithful disciple of Jesus seeks to break the cycle of hatred and distrust by taking that often-formidable first step to love, to seek reconciliation above all else.
Seeing beyond hatreds and differences, borders and boundaries, flags and uniforms, languages and cultures, suspicions and unsettled scores is the cutting edge of the Gospel. The relationship we seek with God we must first seek with one another.