Some (not so) Quick Thoughts and Notes

I was trying to think yesterday on the final version of what I wanted to preach on today, and so I hoped to write some points down. What I ended up doing was to write a homily, which I used points of in the homilies I preached this weekend, but I did not preach exactly what I had written. I thought that I would share this with you.

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Some Quick Thoughts and Notes for the Homily

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

What's our idea of "freedom"? For most of us, it's what [is] found in our nation's Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. And that, in some way, could be seen as a correct interpretation.

But that's not the full interpretation. Nor can it ever be.

My brothers and sisters, we just listened to Jesus say that the Scripture was fulfilled in the people's hearing. And not just in the hearing of the Jews of Nazareth two-thousand years ago, but also in OUR hearing.

We need to rejoice in this fact.

Just as the ancient Israelites rejoiced at Ezra's reading of the Law, so must we rejoice at the fact that Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. He is also the fulfillment of the prophets. He IS the fulfillment of all things and in all times.

It is from this reality that we rejoice in TRUE, REAL, and ABSOLUTE FREEDOM. And it is in to that reality that we, ourselves, have been baptized. It is in this Christocentric freedom that we are called to live in. It is in this freedom that all of our desires find true fulfillment. It is in this Christ-centered reality and freedom that glad tidings are brought to the poor, liberty is proclaimed to captives, sight is restored to the blind, the oppressed are set free, and a year acceptable to the Lord is announced.

It is in this life lived in and mystery of Christ that we find our absolute freedom and fulfillment.

In our Responsorial Psalm, we remarked how the words of the Lord are "Spirit and life". It's only in that Spirit and life that we dare to live in when we - as individuals and as a community - truly understand that it is in Christ, and Christ alone, that we live in true freedom; that He alone is the fulfillment not only of the Law, not only of the prophets, not only of the totality of the Scriptures and of Tradition, but the totality of all that was, that is, and that will be. Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, becomes in His Incarnation the total and complete fulfillment of the promises of the Father.

Freedom that is true, freedom that is real, freedom that is absolute is only found in Christ because He IS the fulfillment of all freedom. And to live otherwise - that is, to live in a life of sin, no matter how big or how small - is to reject the gifts that are given to us by God, and to reject the fact that He has claimed to be - AND IS! - the fulfillment of all we desire.

Let's not fool ourselves with the lies of our society, with the lies of the Devil: That "freedom" is doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Rather, let's immerse ourselves in the truth that our true freedom is lived out when we acknowledge that Christ is the fulfillment of all we desire.

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Not my greatest work, in my humble opinion. However, there were things in this reflection that made it into the homilies I preached - and not all at the same Mass. It was good to have it that way, I believe.

Well, three Masses down for the weekend, one to go.




Enjoy the journey . . .