Sunday Homily: Fulfilled in Your Hearing

Last updated on: January 23, 2016 at 6:46 pm by Father Pablo Migone

Sunday Homily: Fulfilled in Your Hearing 2016-01-23T18:46:47-05:00 Father Pablo Migone

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Whenever we are at an event where there’s a raffle, everyone gets quiet as the numbers are about to be announced. There is great excitement and anticipation as the numbers are heard, and after a few seconds, one lucky winner cheers and claims the prize.

It is by hearing carefully that the winner learns he is the winner. It is by hearing carefully that she learns that she has been chosen to take the prize home.

I will dare to say that today’s first reading happens in a similar setting as the calling of raffle numbers, even though what’s at stake is not just winning a raffle, but the rebuilding of a city, a temple, and a people.
For seventy years, the Israelites were exiled from their land. The Babylonians conquered their land including the great city of Jerusalem, destroying everything, including the temple built by King Solomon.

For seventy years, the Israelites lived in darkness, trying to make sense of what had happened and what the future would hold. 538 years before Christ, the Israelites returned from Babylon after exile, led by the governor Nehemiah and the high priest Ezra, and they rebuilt Jerusalem, its temple, and began to re-create their identity as a people.

In today’s first reading, we hear how Ezra, for the first time back in Jerusalem, reads from the “Book of the Law” for all to hear. The Book of the Law includes the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. After seventy years, the people can openly and freely hear the Word of God. They listen closely and they weep with joy. By carefully hearing the Word of God, they learn who they are as God’s people, and they are able to rejoice.

Just as the raffle winner discovers he is the winner by hearing, the Israelites rediscovered who they were by hearing God’s Word. They heard God’s Word, they delighted in it, and they learned their identity.

It is by hearing that we learn our identity.

It is by hearing that we learn the stories of our family history, including stories of our own birth and childhood. We learn who we are, and are anchored into our family.

The old synagogue of Nazareth, built over the original synagogue where Jesus taught

It is by hearing that we learn the history of our community and nation. Whatever country we hail from, growing up, we heard the stories that ground our national identity. We heard about acts bravery and patriotism, and through the stories we heard, we learned to love and respect our country.

It is by hearing the words of Jesus Christ that we as Christians learn our identity as children of God. It is in the Word of God that we, just as the ancient Israelites, find our identity and are able to delight in it.

We learn by hearing to Saint Paul that “In one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”

We learn by hearing to Saint Luke’s account of the life of Jesus Christ, written for a man named Theophilus, of the unending love God the Father has for us.

Sunday after Sunday, we gather to hear the Word of God proclaimed. Every Sunday we gather for Mass to hear once again the story of God sending His own Son to us, Jesus Christ, who died so that we could have life. In hearing the story again, told by the priest, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In hearing the story, we deepen our understanding of who we are as God’s redeemed people, and as the Body of Christ.

We gather today to hear God’s Word just like those who gathered around Jesus at the synagogue of Nazareth. May Jesus open the ears of our hearts, that we may hear His words of mercy, love, encouragement, and joy. May His words and promises be fulfilled in our hearing.

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