Reflection on the Readings at Mass for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray.
The Liturgy of the Catholic Mass: A Journey from Darkness to Light and Back Again
For the readings of 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year A, we will continue with another selection from the Prophet Isaiah, First Corinthians, and begin our journey through the Gospel of Matthew.
Today’s First Reading from Isaiah 8:23—9:3 is probably the concluding section of Isaiah’s ‘Immanuel/Virgin birth Oracle’ in which a successor to King Ahaz was promised. Here, the prophet narratives the events surrounding the arrival of Immanuel. The beginning of the text, “land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali” points to the fact that God had allowed the kingdom of Assyria to subjugate the Israelites into anguish, gloom, and darkness is then juxtaposed at the end of today’s reading concerning the day recorded the book of Judges (Chapter 7) when God had “delivered Midian and all the camp into His power,” and Gideon and his men had won victory over their foe.
The Gospel of Matthew, ever ready to point to Jesus of Nazareth as being the one who the prophets foretold was coming, records in our Gospel Reading today in 4:12-23 that “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The early readers of this text would have understood the connection here between these two readings; that if Jesus is Immanuel, and we are now living in the day of the new Midian where God delivered His people from “the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster,” then this call to repentance and the kingdom of heaven coming must be somehow connected to warfare. More context about this delivery would be added later in Matthew, such as in 11:29-30 when Christ Jesus replaces the yoke of Assyria with His, saying, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
In our post-Christian and post-Truth world today, everyone wants to follow something or someone other than the Lord of God. They want us to follow the latest diet trends, the latest fashion trends, the latest news story, the latest episode of some television or streaming network series, the latest comment of some billionaire or politician, and even the Church, we are asked to follow the latest evangelization program or the most trendiest celebrity priest. The world always wants what is new, rather than Him who came to renew the world. Such was the case in the Church in Corinth that the readings from First Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 narrate today. It was reported to the Apostle Paul that a spirit of factions and divisiveness had grown in the Church. “For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” What the people seem to be dealing with here are personality cults; perhaps based upon preferences in teaching methods or how Peter, Paul, and Apollos related to them personally. Perhaps Peter related better to those who were traditionally Jewish, Apollos preached more eloquently, and maybe Paul related better to those who did not need all the nuance and fancy words – just basic, cut and dry Christian teaching. We do not know for certain what was the source of the factions, but what is clear is that these were the latest trends in people’s minds, to which Saint Paul found cause to address in the opening section of his letter to them, saying, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.”
If the Gospel of Matthew, chapter & verse, were in everyone hands at that time, the Apostle Paul may have just pointed to 4:12-17 from our Gospel Reading today to teach us that we are only bound to respond to the call of Christ Jesus because He is the only one who calls us to our eternal purpose and eternal destination. We are called to only follow Christ Jesus because He is the only one who can lead us to our true home. The Apostle Paul may have also pointed to the book of Ecclesiastes and reminded us that responding to the call of anyone other than Christ or following anyone other than Christ is mere vanity.
Together, the readings today, point to the most obvious thing about the Divine Symphony which many Catholics may not always consider; that the act of entering the sacred space itself is the intentional decision one makes to come out of the darkness of the world and into the light of Christ Jesus; only then, to be sent back into the dark world, but now with the light of Christ – the Holy Eucharist living in them, so that they might be the light of Christ in the world. It is only the true faith; the Church established by God Himself that offers us this great blessing and gift almost every day of the year, and for this reason, Christ Jesus is the only man born of woman who is worthy for us to follow.
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
