Called to Unity for a Greater Cause

 The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C): January 23, 2022

Readings: Nehemiah 8:2–6, 10; Psalms 19:8–10, 15; 1 Corinthians 12:12–30; Luke 1:1–4, 4:14–21

Jesus is reading the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth 

To listen to my audio-video reflections on YOUTUBE, please click on this link

By the time we celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, we have prayed a weeklong prayer for Christian unity. Perhaps, in a Catholic-dominated country like India where the Orthodox and the Protestant brothers and sisters make comparatively a smaller number, the urgency for Christian Unity has not taken deep roots. This argument is based on the number of articles that are published in the theological and popular Catholic journals of India. Even if I search with a floodlight, sadly but hardly any article on ecumenism could be found in our journals today! Having myself lived in the heart of the robust and influential with an almost State Religion status of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow for many years, brushing aside any sort of ecumenical fervour in spirit and action would cost dearly your apostolic endeavours as a priest. In this context, the liturgical readings of this Sunday remind us very powerfully that we are all called to be part of the one body, one book and one mission, in fact, called to be ecumenical in every way. 

1. Lack of unity is self-destruction 

Let's start with the book of Nehemiah which speaks about the sad state of affairs of the Israelites (Nehemiah 8:2–6, 10). Priest Ezra and the captive Israelites return from exile in Babylon, the infamous Babylonian captivity which took place in 586 BC.  Foreign and non-Jewish king Cyrus of Persia not only sends back the Jews to their own Fatherland but also rebuilds their ruined temple in 538 BC. Then Ezra and Nehemia having rebuilt the ruined city and its walls come together with the Israelites to celebrate their unity by reading the book of Thora, the scriptures. Both Ezra and Nehemiah are contemporaries. They are given the task of rebuilding the Israelites, their temple, their land, and their nation. People quickly understand that if there was such a destruction of their national culture, tradition, religion, freedom and prosperity and very sense of nation, it is due to the Babylonian captivity, it is because of their discord with God and one another. If the people had to live in bondage first with Babylonians and then with Persians it's because of their lack of unity among themselves. They had forgotten the God of their ancestors. They had neglected their covenant with the Lord and His commandments. Moreover, they had gone behind the pagan Gods, both king and his people. Now, a new stage was set for the renewal of the covenant and the re-establishment of the Law of Moses as the people’s rule of life. 

A quick lesson could be drawn here. We are living in a very odd and difficult time in India and in many parts of the world including in the so-called liberal world. As Christians and minorities, we are intimidated by more and more violence. We are threatened to live as peace-loving citizens of this country. These are not just outside forces only. The evil and wicked forces within our Christian Churches and outside our Churches are leading this onslaught very powerfully. Our Shepherds - Bishops, priests - have forgotten to speak up in public, speak up collectively and boldly, regrettably, their mouths are shut. You can speak up if you are morally right, ethically correct, spiritually strong, prophetically ascetic and radical like Jesus and his apostles. We need the courage of Ezra and Nehemia very urgently. 

2. In and through Christ, we are made one

St Paul has beautiful words for us as we grapple with how to defend ourselves, who we are and what we are in the pressing problem of maintaining our true identity as Christians in fact, good Christians today! St Paul extols, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:12-3). The early Christian community had its share of difficulties when people from different nations, cultures, languages and traditions embraced Christ as their saviour. They found it difficult to accept each other as brothers and sisters of one faith, one baptism and of one God because of their differences and divisions. 

We are in the midst of fulfilling a great dream of our Pope Francis for synodality in the life and mission of the Church, which has been taking a definite shape in our dioceses and parishes at least on a talking level. Is synodality possible in our Churches - parishes, dioceses, congregations? In a patriarchal society, where clericalism has taken such deep roots, where lay people are given hardly any role or function of governance in our dioceses, churches or parishes, can we make any headway at all? Certainly,  governor Nehemia, priest Ezra and apostle St Paul should come into our midst and teach us what is to live in synodality. Just as good Pope John the XXIII called at the Vatican II to open the windows so that the fresh breeze enter into the house, so too, today we must open our dioceses, parishes, congregations to breath the fresh air of synodality, working together, deciding and moving further. In the Spirit, we must be united with God through the Church, which is the body of Christ. 

3. Unity in Christ is possible only by following his Nazareth Manifesto

St Luke, the Evangelist begins the gospel by invoking those who love God (Theo- Philus) to believe in him and follow him. Then he gives us the famous Nazareth Manifesto of Jesus where the mission of our Lord is disclosed in the scroll of prophet Isaiah (Is 61:1). "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Lk 4:18-19). Just like priest Ezra, Jesus stands before the people, reads and interprets what is read and calls for renewing their life in God.

As disciples of Christ, we are all invited to follow in the footsteps of our master, caring for the poor, giving freedom to those who are captives, sight to the blind, setting the oppressed free and saying to the world that God is within our reach. In other words, we are invited in our everyday affairs of life to be caring, loving, gentle and generous people. If we carry Christ within us then we must manifest Christ's works in us. Moreover, we should have those words of Nehemiah on our lips: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep” “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10). Such should be our choice, such should be our vocation as Christians.

Questions for reflections
1. What do you feel when you read the Jesus' mission statement at the synagogue in Nazareth?
2. What image of Jesus comes to your mind when you contemplate this passage?
3. How do you look at your Church? Admiration, disappointment, indifference?
4. What are your suggestions to make your church a truly synodal, concilliatory and dialogical?

5. After having listened to these reflections and spent time in prayer, where have you been really touched? Where did you find God’s peace? What is God saying to you at this time? What do you want to say to God today?

Prayer

Gracious and Loving God, Your words, Lord, are spirit and life, I pray to be kind to myself when I recognize my sinfulness. Help me Lord to listen to you and the promptings of your Spirit to do as  Jesus did by honoring the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed and many more such vulnerable people and situations.  

Grant me, I pray, your divine helping grace; endow me with patience and strength to endure my tribulations with complete submission to your will. You know my misery and suffering and to you, my only hope and refuge, I flee for relief and comfort; trusting your infinite love and compassion, that in due time, you will deliver me from my troubles, and turn my distress into comfort, and I will rejoice in your mercy, and exalt and praise your Holy Name, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

21 January 2022