Homily — 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

The historical background for today’s first reading places us approximately in the middle of the fifth century BC. A few decades earlier, Cyrus, the king of Persia, had decreed that the city of Jerusalem and its temple would be rebuilt, and that the worship of the God of Israel was to be restored. This marked the end of the long years of captivity in Babylon and the beginning of the period of restoration prior to the coming of Messiah who would fulfill all the promises given to Israel. In today’s reading, the wall of the city has been rebuilt, the sacrificial cult of the temple has been restored, and the Covenant between God and his people will now be ratified by the reading of his Law and the people’s acceptance of it. As the law is read, the people realize that what they are hearing is absolute Truth—the divine Truth of what God expects; their rights and responsibilities as his chosen ones.

Imagine yourself among the crowd of people listening to the Law being read. Until that point in time, you had lived your life as you had seen fit, not knowing God’s will. But now, for the first time, you hear God’s holy word and realize that you have broken the covenant—that you had, unknowingly, sinned against God many times and in many different ways. If you take your relationship with the Lord at all seriously, this would be a heartbreaking experience. And that is precisely what it was for the people gathered in Jerusalem on that day so many centuries ago. Instead of it being a day of joy in discovering God’s will and renewing the Covenant, it became a day of sadness and fear. Because the people realized that those who break the Covenant of God must face his divine justice, and punishment lies in store for the sinner.

But as Ezra read these words of absolute Truth—the unchangeable Law of God—he knew something else about the Lord. He knew that the God of Israel is a God of mercy, forgiveness and love, as well as a God of justice. And that the Lord was offering to his people that day, not so much the prospect of punishment, but the hope of salvation. This was their opportunity to commit themselves anew to the Covenant of their fathers and to embrace, that day, the Law of God, promising that they would order their lives according to the Law from that day forward. For this reason, Ezra encouraged the people and told them, "Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep... for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!" In a verse which is not included in today’s reading, the Scriptures tell us, "Then all the people went to eat and drink, to distribute portions, and to celebrate with great joy, for they understood the words that had been expounded to them."

Truth—the absolute Truth of God’s Law—became the foundation of Israel’s unity and the source of their joy. With understanding in their hearts and minds, they were able to move forward in peace, living according to God’s will.

Today we conclude the week of prayer for Christian unity. During this period of eight days, we recognize that God gave to his church the gift of unity from the very beginning. But that this unity has been wounded by the actions of sinful people throughout history. There are millions throughout the world who claim the name of Christ as their Savior and Lord and share with us a common Baptism. And yet, they do not share with us the totality of the faith. Our minds are not united in Truth and our hearts are not united in charity. And this is why we pray for unity. But when we do this, it is important to understand exactly what we are praying for.

First of all, we are praying for forgiveness—forgiveness for the scandal which wounded our unity in the first place—the sins committed by our own fathers in the Faith which drove people away from the flock of St. Peter. And we pray for personal forgiveness when, in our own lives, our sins of arrogance and pride have kept people from remaining in, or uniting to, God’s Holy Church.

When we pray for unity to be restored, we are not praying for a new church to be created. Christ Jesus established one Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets which will last until the end of time. Nor are we hoping to simply set aside our differences, pretending that Truth is somehow variable—entertaining the false assumption that what is true for you may not be true for me. This is relativism and it is a shaky foundation upon which to build authentic Christian unity.

Rather, when we pray for unity, we pray that souls may be converted as they were on that day when Ezra read the Law to the people of Israel after the Babylonian captivity. We are praying that men and women everywhere would hear the Truth of God and understand how to apply it in their lives—that Truth once given to the Apostles and passed down from generation to generation through their successors—that Truth preserved by the Holy Spirit in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church.

In making this prayer, there is a danger of pride—in thinking that this Truth is our own possession which we deserve because we are better than everyone else. This kind of thinking is from the devil. We have been called to the Truth through no merits of our own, and we submit to the Truth in humility and gratitude. Only with a humble spirit can we presume to invite others into the unity of Truth. And it is with a humble spirit that we repeat the prayer which our Lord Jesus himself uttered on the night before he died, "Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.... Consecrate them in the Truth. Your word is Truth.... so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you that they also may be in us that the world may believe that you sent me."

Our Holy Mother the Church, in the official prayer she has given us for this week of prayer for Christian unity, expresses these hopes in a most beautiful way. Here is a literal translation of that prayer from the original Latin*:

All-powerful and merciful God, who has willed that the diversity of the nations be united into one people through your Son, mercifully grant that, having rejected divisions, those who glory in the name of Christian may be one in Truth and in Charity, and that all men, illumined with the light of the True Faith, may be joined to the one Church in fraternal communion.

May the Lord unite our minds in Truth and our hearts in charity so that, giving him our entire lives we may know and understand and do his most holy will.

© 2004, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor

*Omnipotens et misericors Deus, qui diversitatem gentium in unum populum per Filium tuum adunare voluisti, concede propitius ut qui christiano nomine gloriantur, qualibet divisione reiecta, unum sint in veritate et caritate, et omnes homines, verae fidei lumine illustrati, in unam Ecclesiam fraterna communione conveniant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.