February 3, 2022
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) on January 30, 2022, at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19; Psalm 71; 1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13; Luke 4:21-30.
All of our readings are about beginnings, and things requiring more work than initially expected.
In Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet, God is clear that Jeremiah’s prophecies will be opposed by kings, princes, priests, and people in general, but that he will not be “crushed” by this opposition. In our gospel, after Jesus’ proclamation in Nazareth that the prophecy of Isaiah had been fulfilled, the people quickly move from astonishment to rejection. And in what might be the most famous passage in all of Paul’s writings, Paul tells the Corinthian community that their initial pledge to care for one another, despite their differences, takes extraordinary grace to fulfill.
At our baptism, each of us – or someone speaking on our behalf – pledged that we would live our lives in mutual support of one another. Let us celebrate that we continue to receive God’s grace to carry out that commitment.
As we will hear throughout this year, Luke presents Jesus’ entire ministry as a journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Luke invites us to take this journey alongside Jesus. Every journey begins with a single step, and today’s passage is Jesus’ first step away from home towards Jerusalem. And as we have begun to see our own home – the buildings of St. Austin Catholic Parish and School – start to be torn down, perhaps this is us taking a first metaphorical step on our own development pilgrimage. There’s no turning back now! What is the wisdom we need as we begin this endeavor?
If you type the words, “Everything worth doing” into a web browser, you will find an astounding number of quotes starting with similar words. Fauja Singh, who ran marathons in his 90s, said, “Anything worth doing… is going to be difficult.” Linda Lael Miller, the novelist, says, “Everything worth doing… involves risk.” Zig Ziglar, the motivational speaker, said, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.” Art Garfunkel, the singer, says, “Everything worth doing… starts with being scared.”
The Book of Jeremiah bears all of these truths out. When God calls Jeremiah to this ministry, Jeremiah does not want to do it. It’s going to be hard. He’s too young. God confirms that yes, it is going to be hard, and yes, Jeremiah is very young, but God assures Jeremiah that despite all the people who will be mad at what he says, God will protect him.
And indeed, Jeremiah has a rough go of it. He tells the people that disaster is imminent, and he lives long enough to see the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem destroyed. But Jeremiah persists as a prophet. Of all the prophets, he is one who probably most influences the Judeo-Christian understanding of God as a single, all-powerful being who created everything and cares for all people.
Like Jeremiah, Paul knew the endurance necessary to thrive on a long journey. The Corinthian Christians were initially enthusiastic about living their new baptized lives, but now that Paul has departed from them, they are giving in to the older, more familiar ways. Surprisingly, St. Paul’s familiar treatise on love is not about marriage. Paul is aghast that the rich Corinthian Christians would gather for a meal and make the poor ones wait outside until they were ready to celebrate Mass. Paul spends nearly three chapters arguing that such behavior is antithetical to Christianity. First, he declares that anyone who rejects the poor is profaning the Eucharist. Next, he explains how all of us members of the Body of Christ are interdependent on one another. And then, he offers “a still more excellent way” to understand what it means to be a member of the Christian community.
Paul speaks beautifully about love and commitment, whether it is to a spouse or to a community. Love is not selfish. It does not require wisdom or eloquence. Despite the practical challenges, love can still uphold beliefs and ideals. And if we work at it persistently, in mutual fidelity with others, the work of love, will never fail.
In today’s gospel, Jesus demonstrates the persistence he will need on his journey. Like Jeremiah’s and Paul’s audiences, the people of Nazareth fail to appreciate that they can be set free from their bondage to selfishness and sin. Within minutes of hearing Jesus’ joyous message, they become protective of the status quo. I’d like to think that many of those who first rejected Jesus’ message eventually got on board. Jesus was preaching a new and challenging teaching, and most of us are initially resistant to new ideas. Mary was almost definitely at the synagogue, and Simon Peter may have been, too. As other people in Nazareth saw Mary’s and Peter’s devotion in the following weeks and months, perhaps some other people from Nazareth joined Jesus on his trek towards Jerusalem.
The journey of Christian discipleship is definitely worth doing. Jesus came to bring glad tidings to the poor, and Paul told the Corinthians that their baptism compelled them to do likewise. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives, and Jeremiah lived long enough that in the later chapters of his prophecy, he preached that message of liberty to those held captive in Babylon.
And anything worth doing starts with being scared. It involves risk and failing from time to time. But just as Jesus picked himself up three times after falling on the final leg of his journey to Calvary, we receive God’s grace in reconciliation and Eucharist to pick ourselves up on the journey, too.
It is up to us at St. Austin Catholic Parish and School to discern how to apply these lessons to the pilgrimage we have now begun in earnest. The road to our salvation is also a pilgrimage we work towards together, not as individuals.
Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish industrialist and philanthropist, said, “Anything in life worth having… is worth working for.” Therefore, anything worth having – be it the love we share within our community, be it the outreach we make to those on the margins of our community, be it the redeveloped property we now sacrifice for, be it the salvation we hope to share on the last day – all these things worth having are worth working for… together.