Homily
for Sunday, January 25th, 2015
Fr. Eric M. Andersen
Holy Trinity in Bandon/St. John the Baptist
in Port Orford
January 25th, 2015
Dominica III Per Annum (Post Epiphaniam)
In the Holy Land, it is still
Christmas. This past Sunday, January 18th, the Armenian Patriarch of
Jerusalem arrived in Manger Square in Bethlehem to celebrate Solemn Christmas
Vespers followed by a succession of liturgies and Masses all through the night
and ending at dawn on Christmas day, January 19th. On that same morning
of January 19th, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem entered into the tomb of
Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in solemn procession
for the High Mass of the Epiphany. Decorations for Christmas remain a
public sign of the presence of Christians throughout the Holy Land. Large
public displays including Christmas trees, lights, Nativity scenes, and
poinsettias adorn the streets, public squares, shop windows, and hotel
lobbies. They are not anxious to take them down. It is Christmas
and will remain so well into February. This is clearly different from our
celebration of Christmas here in the United States.
In the Latin Rite, we now celebrate the
third Sunday after Epiphany. This is true also in Jerusalem, but the
Christmas decorations still remain even in Latin Rite sanctuaries because we
still await the 40th day after the birth of Christ to celebrate the Feast of
the Purification of the Blessed Virgin and the Presentation of the Lord in the
Temple. This will occur for us on February 2nd which is one week from
this coming Monday. The Presentation of the Lord signals the final end of
Christmas for us in the Latin Rite. The Armenians, however, will not
observe the Presentation until February 14th, just a few days before Ash
Wednesday. Why the difference?
Part of the difference may be attributed to
the use of the Julian Calendar among the Orthodox Christians of the East.
The Julian Calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar which we
observe. Every 128 years, the Julian Calendar gets one more day
behind. The Greek Orthodox currently celebrate Christmas on January 7th
according to the Julian Calendar. The Armenians in the Holy Land set
their celebrations twelve days later on January 18-19th, to avoid crowding and
competition for use of the Holy sites. Each group gets their time and
their space. Christmas therefore lingers.
On this third Sunday after the Epiphany, we
in the Latin Rite may still reflect on the Incarnation and Manifestation of the
Lord: the Nativity and the Epiphany. We begin with the prophet
Jonah. How does our first reading begin? It begins with these
words: Et factum est verbum Domini ad Jonam. . . (And the word of the
Lord was made to Jonah. . .). This is common wording in the Old Testament
when God speaks to a prophet. The Word of the Lord was made to the
prophet. Let’s be clear about this: the Word is from eternity. The
Word is the Son––the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. We must be clear
that the Son is not made. The Word is eternal. The Son is eternal
and begotten from eternity, not made. At Christmas we reflect on how the
Word was made flesh (Verbum caro factum est). That is what we call
the Incarnation. But every time the Lord speaks to the prophets of the Old
Testament, it is described as the Word of the Lord being made––Verbum Domini
factum est––to the prophet.
The Word of the Lord, though eternal,
continues to be spoken in time to creatures who are made. The Eternal
Word is spoken by the Father, and the Eternal Word which is spoken is the
Son. The breath of God which speaks the Eternal Word is the Holy
Spirit. Here we have an image of the Holy Trinity. The Father
speaks; the Son is the Word spoken; the Holy Spirit is the breath by which the
Word is spoken, proceeding from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit
is the true Author of all the Holy Scriptures –– every word of them.
There is no insignificant word in the Holy Scriptures because God does not
waste one word. The Eternal Word is God Himself in the Son.
That Eternal Word of the Lord was made to
Jonah. In other words it was spoken to Jonah; made present in Jonah’s
mind and heart. It was given to him and now he has the obligation to speak that
word, to make it present to others. God entrusted this to Jonah because
Jonah was made in the image and likeness of God, to be an earthen vessel for
the work of God. He was sent to the Gentiles. By that word being
spoken by Jonah, the course of history was changed. The city of Ninive
was going to be destroyed. By the Word of the Lord made unto Jonah, and
then obediently spoken by Jonah, the city of Ninive was spared. The men
of Ninive repented and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth for 40
days. God saw their repentance and their works and had mercy upon
them. The course of history was changed because of one man’s obedience to
speak the Eternal Word of the Lord made unto him.
We also are being called to repent. “The
time is short” as St. Paul tells us (1 Cor. 7:29). The “fashion of this
world passeth away” (7:31). The forty days of Christmas are winding down for
us this week and the forty days of Lent will be quickly be upon us. Let
us enjoy these last days of the time after Epiphany, but keep in mind that we
must begin to prepare soon for the 40 days of Lent. We are commanded by
our Blessed Lord Himself: Repent and believe! “The time is accomplished
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark
1:15). These are important words for us today in this very time!
The Eternal Word Himself, the Son of God, now speaks not through the prophet
Jonah. The Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. He now speaks
for Himself directly: “Repent and believe the gospel!”
What do these words mean? Repent (paenitemini).
This word is a command in the plural to all. Paenitemini!
Repent! Pseudo-Jerome comments: “For he must repent, who would keep close
to eternal good, that is, to the kingdom of God. For he who would have
the kernel, breaks the shell” (Catena Aurea). Here is a helpful image:
“he who would have the kernel, breaks the shell.” We can apply this to
eating a nut. In order to get to the almond or walnut or filbert, we must
take a nutcracker or even a hammer and break the shell. So it is with
man. In order to get down to the kernel, we must break the shell.
We must do mortification. Mortification belongs to Lent in a special way,
but not only to Lent. It is part of the daily life of a Christian all
through the year. But this is not a life of drudgery. It is a life
of variety.
A few weeks back I spoke about the calendar
year including the days of the week and the months of the year. Well,
throughout each year there is variety. There are seasons of feasting and
seasons of fasting. We are currently in Ordinary Time after Epiphany but
within the 40 days after Christmas. This is not necessarily a season of
feasting, but we do celebrate feasts during this time. This is not
necessarily a season of fasting either, but we do celebrate fasts during this
time. Let me explain: Each Sunday is like Easter. It is the
day of the Resurrection. If you are going to feast––to indulge a
little––do it on Sunday. Remember this as a general rule: every Sunday is
a feast day and every Friday throughout the year is a day of penance and
abstinence. That might come as surprise to some of you that every Friday
is a day of penance and abstinence. That is something that many people
mistakenly attribute only to the life of Catholics before Vatican II. But
Vatican II did not do away with this. The Church currently obliges all Catholics
to do penance and to abstain every Friday through the year. This is true
not just during Lent but on every Friday of the year. The preference is
to abstain from meat but if you are a vegetarian already, or for some other
reason, then abstain from something else. The obligation to do penance is
divine law. Our Father has commanded and so our mother, the Church,
lovingly shows us how to obey our Father: observe every Friday as a day of
penance and abstinence.
If you are not already doing this, you will
find that abstaining from meat, or chocolate, or wine on Fridays gives you a
real sense of joy. Self-denial is satisfying. We get down to the
kernel by breaking the shell. We find the kingdom of God in that one day
of penance each week and also on the day of feasting on Sunday each week.
God knows that we need this. It is healthy. From a purely natural
perspective, it is not healthy to feast all the time and it is not healthy to
fast all the time. God made us. He knows what we need. He gives
us these days of feasting and fasting and these seasons of feasting and fasting
to provide variety among our days and to safeguard our good health.
By doing so, we heed the call not only to
repent but to believe. We must also heed His command to believe!
Believe the Gospel. Credite! The Lord uses the same word we
use to profess our faith: Credo. I believe. If I
believe, then I act upon that belief and I repent. If I profess my faith
each week as a Catholic, then I act according to what it means to be
Catholic. Nobody forces me to be Catholic. It is my choice.
It is a choice based upon the belief that Jesus Christ the Lord is God and that
He established one Church and that she is inseparable from Him. She
speaks for Him. When we hear the voice of the Church, we hear the voice
of the Lord speaking to us as the Word was made to the prophets.
Therefore we do not dismiss the precepts of the Church which oblige us to
abstain. We embrace these precepts as coming from God. We give
thanks for these precepts and we are filled with the love of God which impels
us to follow these precepts to the best of our ability.
It is the Lord who speaks: “Repent and believe the gospel!” We
must be willing to break the shell in order to get to the kernel which is the
kingdom of God. If we have not already done so, let us begin by doing
something so simple: feasting on Sunday and abstaining on Friday. As God
looked with mercy on the men of Ninive who believed and repented, so God will
look with His mercy upon us and grant us life in abundance. 
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