euphemos

How do you welcome the new day? What do you first think of? What’s the first thing you say? These things largely define how we will encounter the whole day.

Do you grab your phone and scroll for rage bait, juicy gossip, the weather, whether anyone liked what you shared yesterday, or off-color humor? Perhaps you’re more like Fred the Baker from the 80’s commercials, for whom every day is first and foremost about the day’s work: “time to make the donuts.” 

Clergy are obligated to pray at least Morning and Evening of the Liturgy of the Hours every day, and all the people of God are encouraged to pray some of the Divine Office. Here’s how a cleric’s day begins, or should begin: by making the sign of the cross on our lips, and praying “Lord open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise,” then we pray the invitatory psalm, which is almost always today’s responsorial, Psalm 95.

When I’m on my A game, that prayer “Lord open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise” is the first thing that comes out of my lips. When I’m on my B game, they’re second and internal, right after “thank you love” to Karen as she hands me a coffee. If I’m not at least on my B game, encounters of the day are more difficult, and I am less able to recognize the presence of God all day.

I’ve recited, sung, and sometimes actually prayed Psalm 95 something like 5000 times. Sometimes I’ve thought about Meribah (testing) and Massah (strife), and not just mumbled my way through it. This is a very familiar story for having been repeated so often, but the Church invites us to pray it so often because it provides the correct answer for an important daily decision: do I welcome the day with praise, or with complaint and conflict, with testing God and strife with my neighbors, with meribah and massah?

The Children of Israel are always complaining. They’re always demanding that Moses do something new to prove to them that God is with them. Whatever they just got isn’t good enough, they’re always wanting more. They thirst for freedom, so God gives it to them. Once they’re free, they complain of hunger, so God sends manna. Today, they already forgot how God miraculously delivered them from Egypt, and are just sure they’re going to die of thirst and God must not be accompanying them, because when they arrived at the oasis of Rephidim, it was dry. It’s a bit melodramatic, but God makes water come from a rock. Pretty soon they will be tired of lembas bread, I mean manna pancakes, and wonder if they would have been better off staying in slavery, so God will send birds from the sea that they can kill and eat without any ritual. 

The trend here is pretty obvious, isn’t it? God’s people are full of self-pity and entitlement, and they are constantly arguing among themselves. They play the same card every time: “Oh, woe, woe, if only we had <insert thing here> then we’d know that God is with us.” They test God, and they strive with each other.

The Children of Israel needs a new heart. They need a new spirit within them. 

Thankfully, we’re not like that. We’re not seeking after a transactional relationship with God. We don’t demand God put up or shut up as if we were coin-operated mechanical goldfish who can’t remember the last time God fed us a nickle. We don’t complain and criticize. We don’t fight among ourselves. We’re truly transformed. We’re thankful. When our lips open, they praise God. …right?

If only that were more perfectly true. But, I do think that if we would pay attention to how we welcome our day and how we encounter God in prayer, we might find ourselves transformed. We might find ourselves truly converted to Christ, and aware of accompanying Christ throughout the day and the days of our lives.

Before my career went to heck in a handbasket, I mean before I was delivered from slavery to corporate America, I did a lot of thinking and reading about leadership. One of the things that stuck with me and actually matters in real life is the difference between transactional and transformational relationships.

A transactional relationship is all about getting what you’re due. Put in energy, get work. Invest, get a return. Give, and get back. Put in a quarter, get a gumball.

A transformational relationship is about inspiring and influencing individuals to think well and become more authentically the person God created them to be. 

God desires to transform. The Children of Israel were not really interested in being transformed. They primarily wanted mutually agreeable transactions with God. They wanted “a God with benefits,” a relationship that is contractual, rather than covenantal. They didn’t really care what God desired, and perhaps little for God, only what they needed to do to earn God’s favor.

And what does God desire? Jesus tells us. “[T]he hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.” Peter (2 Pt 3:9) and Paul (1 Tm 2:4) both write that God desires that all come to the truth and repent. St. Augustine says that confession is to speak the truth. We confess our sin, and we confess the goodness of God. The woman at the well did both. So should we.

In fulfilling the Father’s will, Jesus is as refreshed and satisfied by his encounter with the woman at the well as if he’s had a meal. Just as when he again said “I thirst” on the cross, and also about the 6th hour, his thirst was not only physical. St. Bede said “He thirsted.. to do the Father’s will in her and complete His work.” 

As an aside, but important to remember, St. Bede the Venerable is important to English-speaking Christians. St. Bede wrote many English commentaries, and began the first translation of the Bible to the Old English vernacular with his translation of John’s gospel in 735AD. That’s 800 years before Coverdale finished the heretic priest Tyndale’s English Bible translation in 1535. From this, you can see, I think, that contrary to common thinking, it was not so much a common language Bible the Church opposed, but rather she was primarily opposed to heretics who provided translations full of subtle errors contrary to the faith. May God have mercy upon those led astray by false teachers, translators, and prophets, and send His Spirit to guide them to, and keep us in, the truth. 

So Jesus thirsted, and was himself satisfied by a truly transformational encounter with the woman at the well. She went to the well at an off time. Likely, she was trying to avoid the morning crowds, possibly because she was not perceived as… entirely wholesome, since four men had dumped her already. Jesus didn’t do any miracles other than speak the truth, and inspire her to also seek the truth. He did an ordinary thing for the most part, stopping by the well for a drink after a long morning’s walk. But he encountered this woman. I mean he really encountered her, and then he accompanied her back to the town. This is something our Bishop would encourage us to emulate with his unofficial motto and repeated exhortation: welcome, accompany, encounter – this is the work of evangelism. Jesus welcomed and invited her to conversation, despite social obstacles. He saw her. He listened to and encountered her. She was transformed, as was her relationship with her neighbors, and Jesus did not go on his way, but accompanied them for a time.

But I noticed something new this time I read the story – what about the disciples?

They went into the same town, they bought food, and they left. They completed a transaction. These people who were so excited to hear from the woman about the messiah? They were almost certainly some of the same people the disciples saw in the marketplace. Perhaps the disciples bought food from someone who was hungering and thirsting for righteousness, eager for the coming Messiah.

But they came, they shopped, they left. They didn’t do anything wrong. They were serving Jesus by getting lunch. But, they didn’t really do anything especially right, either, did they? 

Jesus was a spring of water overflowing. He welcomed, encountered, and accompanied. The disciples, well, not so much, at least not yet.

What about us?

Let’s consider how we welcome the day, our God, and our neighbor

Let’s allow our encounters with God and neighbor be transformative

Let’s recognize that we accompany Christ throughout the day, and are called to accompany others. It is Jesus and I who drive in traffic. It is Jesus and I who stop to help… or don’t. It is Jesus and I who watch what’s streaming. 

Our Collect prayer today expresses our shared desire that God, who was pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family, would graciously grant that we might imitate them in practicing the virtues of family life, and in the bonds of charity. In alignment with that prayer, all of our readings today are about the bonds of charity, that is, love, in the various stages of life. They encourage us to consider how we can better imitate the Holy Family’s love and virtues.

Sirach shows us love in the family in all its stages, with a special emphasis on the responsibility of children towards parents. You might consider reading it twice more: once to consider how Christ lives this, and another time to consider how it applies to the family of God, the Church. We struggle with a deeply ingrained disregard for authority and struggle to obey even the letter of the law, much less to cultivate a spirit of obedience, and yet these are essential to the church in all its forms: in our homes, in the parish, and in the universal church.

The Psalm celebrates the blessing of fruitfulness in work and in married life.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians encourages love of neighbor, and working for the good of one another. We like this part.

The second portion of Colossians 3 challenges husbands and wives to rise to a higher standard. We like this less. The world hates the end of this reading. It hates it so much that the Church even offers the option of omitting it. But, ignoring a challenging teaching does not make it go away, and the vocation of marriage is, above all, a call for spouses to help one another to grow in holiness.

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The Lateran Basilica is the cathedra (seat) of the bishop of Rome, the Pope. Today’s feast marks the dedication of that cathedral by Pope Sylvester I in 324. There are many minor basilicas, but only four major basilicas (all in Rome), and just one archbasilica. The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist is unique, and arguably the most important church building on earth. Not because it is the oldest basilica in Rome, and not because of its long and unusual name, but because it is the Pope’s own cathedral, and in many ways, it is every Catholic’s “home church”.

Inscribed on this church are the words: “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.” When I hear the words, “the mother…of all churches” I cannot help but think of Our Lady.

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King Saul, was hunting David with a three thousand man army. When David’s scouts reported that Saul was there, he decided to go check it out with his nephew Abishai, who was a sort of special forces commander. Abishai made a perfectly reasonable suggestion to strike a fatal blow, but David held himself to a higher standard.

Jesus calls us to an even higher standard: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, turn the other cheek, and give even what you need to anyone who asks. Lend without expecting to be repaid. Don’t condemn the guilty. That’s a high bar. All things are possible through Christ, but it’s a high bar.

Today, we have a special rite to introduce some people to you. These catechumen are preparing to be baptized into the family of God.

Catechumen, I hope you will hold yourself to a higher standard, but today, I want to remind you, and everyone, of a low, low bar. Not to say we shouldn’t go for the high bar, but if we can’t even clear the low bar, then there’s no point in thinking about how we’re going to clear the high bar. Hold yourself at least to this standard. And, hold us to it. If your friend among us is not living up to this – you are invited to hassle us – to hold us accountable.

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As the body of Christ, we are one. We are also individuals, who comprise families, who together comprise the body of Christ.

As members of human families, we need to know the stories of our family. As members of the body of Christ, adopted into the family of God, we need to know the stories of that family too.

That’s why Luke wrote this Gospel that we’ll hear from all year – A Gospel written specifically for us, who are grafted into the family of God. A Gospel he wrote so that we can realize the certainty of what we have been taught.

The Gospel of Saint Luke has been given some wonderful names.

It’s called, for example, «the gospel of mercy and great forgiveness». No other gospel tells the parable of the prodigal son and his repentance (Luke 15:11-32). The Gospel of Saint Luke best reflects the tenderness of Christ’s heart when sinners approach him and he forgives them.

It is also called «the gospel of the poor». The story of Bethlehem is attractive because the newborn Christ is surrounded by shepherds; they are poor people who have no future in the eyes of the world, but they are the first to greet the King who has been born. This is the origin of our preferential option for the poor.

It is also called «the gospel of absolute renunciation». When Luke addresses those who idolize the honor and riches of earth, he tells them to forsake everything for the kingdom of God. No other gospel is so absolute in calling for renouncing possessions and becoming truly poor as does this gospel of the poor.

Luke’s gospel is also called «the gospel of prayer and the Holy Spirit» because it is the one that best presents the transcendence of the Gospel message and elevates us toward God. It shows us how the most solemn moments of Christ’s life had their origin in prayer to God, such as when Christ chose the apostles, when he was transfigured, and when he launched the church into the world. All are the fruit of prayer and the Spirit.

The Gospel of Saint Luke is also called the «gospel of messianic joy». If you want to hear a message of joy and optimism, read Luke. Read about the joy with which the disciples announced the good news, telling people that God has come and that sinners and outcasts and everyone who needs good news could find it in the Gospel, a word that means «good news».

Jesus Christ and the Gospel are not two different things. The Gospel is not a biography of Christ. For Saint Paul, «the Gospel is the living power of God» (Rom 1:16). Reading the Gospel is not like reading an ordinary book. Rather it fills us with faith and makes Jesus Christ come alive as the revelation of the Father. Even when no one is speaking, Christ is preaching to us as the homily of God and we are being filled with the divine power that has come in Christ Jesus through the Spirit. 

There is more, however. Jesus says “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” The word of God is not primarily about times past. It is a living word and spirit that is being fulfilled here and now.

The Deacon candidates for our Diocese are about three years into the five year program, and have a foundation in the scriptures and the history of the Church, so we are beginning to share with them the basics of preparing and preaching the homily. Last week, I was preparing to give a talk on this topic, and came across something by St Oscar Romero that I’d like to share with you. It “just happens” to be his homily within the radio address for this very liturgy: the third Sunday of Ordinary Time, in year C. I know that only perhaps a very few of you will ever preach from the ambo, but what he has to say is for all of us, even those who are not discerning a call to the Diaconate, or to the Priesthood. (and those eligible should discern these…)

Saint Oscar Romero tells us that… First, Christ is the living homily that reveals the Father.

The very person of Christ is like a timeless homily that reveals Father. The eternal will of God becomes human. Christ, even when he is silent, speaks; he is the timeless homily of God.

The Saint goes on to tell us Jesus continues preaching through his church. The church is the ever timely and active extension of the homily of Jesus.

The church is the prolongation of the homily that Christ initiated there in Nazareth: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me» (Luke 4:18). The church can continue to assert this at every moment: «This prophecy is fulfilled here today» (Luke 4:21). Here and now the word of God is present. The church is you; the church is me; we are the continuation of the living homily that is Christ our Lord! We are the homily of Christ. This was true on Sunday, January 27, 1980, in the basilica when St Oscar Romero spoke, and it is true on Sunday, January 27, 2025, here in Slaton.

In our first reading, Ezra preached in ways that men, women, and children old enough to understand, could understand. The people responded by worshipping God. The homily we preach with our lives should never be an obstacle to someone’s dialogue with God. The homily we preach with our lives should have as its aim to awaken in every heart gratitude, love, wonder, repentance, and a desire to return to God. 

The book of Nehemiah recounts that the priests told the people, «Behold, today is consecrated to our God. Do not be sad and do not weep» (Neh 8:10b). Then the priests said to the people, «Go, eat rich foods, drink sweet wine, and allot portions for those who have nothing prepared, for today is consecrated to our God» (Neh 8:10a). We could say that this is the spirit of Sunday, the day of the Lord, a day of joy. It is not a self-centered joy but a joy shared with those who have nothing, and which in sharing, grows within us.

This year, I encourage you to really listen to Christ. Listen to the Gospel readings – perhaps even every day. One easy way to do this is to go to the USCCB.org website and click on Daily Readings, where you can read on your phone, or even listen to a daily podcast. Or, use the Formed or Hallow apps and websites.

In addition to listening to Christ, make time to share your own stories. Do not let the miracles and tragedies of your life and the work God does go unshared.

And your life is not ended – it is never too late to consider the homily you proclaim with your life. What would your Gospel, the good news your life be called? Would it be the gospel of repentance, of mercy, or forgiveness? The gospel of love? The gospel of joy? Of peace? Of patience, Of kindness? Of generosity? Faithfulness? Gentleness? Self-control?

Make it so.