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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

 January 26, 2025

SCRIPTURE Readings

Reflection from The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer

by John Bartunek, LC (reprinted with permissions from the author)

149. DOING OUR PART (LK 1:1-4)

 

“The only-begotten Son of God, wishing to enable us to share in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that by becoming man he might make men gods.”

- St Thomas Aquinas

Luke 1:1-4

Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

CHRIST THE LORD St Luke is the only non-Jewish author to write part of the New Testament (he wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles). He was a doctor, a scholar (as is evident in his elegant writing style), and an artist who converted to Christianity during the first wave of evangelization after Jesus’ ascension. He accompanied St Paul on his journeys and during his imprisonment, and he had the chance to meet all the major figures of the early Church. He addresses this manuscript to a high-ranking Roman official (the title “your Excellency” was reserved for such well-positioned men), who may have been financing its publication.

This background information itself speaks volumes about Jesus. He never left Palestine, he died on a cross as a criminal, and only a handful of simple fisherman continued to preach his message after he left this earth. In spite of such star-crossed beginnings, in a matter of just a few years the gospel of Jesus Christ had spread like a storm throughout the Roman Empire. It penetrated the social strata of rich and poor alike, the educated and the ignorant, shedding its saving light into human hearts of every kind.

History can boast of no similar case, unless we count the many instances of saints who brought the gospel to pagan lands. They too started infinitesimally small and soon imbued entire societies and whole cultures with Christ’s truth and grace. No greater proof of Christ’s universal, saving Lordship can be found than that history of his Church.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Sometimes we mistakenly think that the Bible came right from Christ’s lips. Christ established his Church, the living community of his followers gathered around and “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20). He commissioned that Church to hand on (the same term that gives the etymological root for “tradition”) his message. The Bible followed, as disciples like St Luke realized a need to record the events and teachings of Christ’s life and the early Church for the sake of having common reference points to guide the Church’s growth. The Bible truly is the Word of God, a uniquely inspired compendium of God’s own self-revelation, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is a sacred text whose full meaning only shines through when read and interpreted in the context of the living Church, which preserves the tradition from which the Bible itself sprang.

That’s why the term “biblical Christian” is a misnomer – the Bible is not enough to make a mature Christian. And that’s why all Christians need to stay tuned to what the Church is saying; we all need to feed our souls on God’s Word as served up by the Church.

CHRIST THE FRIEND St Luke is about to begin telling the most important, wonderful story in all human history. He obviously feels a need to do so, to write it out in a way that others can understand it and reflect on it. Just so, each Christian should sense a need to hand on the story of Christ.

Did Luke know that the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to write one of the infallible books of the New Testament? Probably not. He just knew that he had to do this, and he had to do it as well as he could – asking all the eyewitnesses, putting things together clearly and truly, doing his homework. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work, and that’s what God used in order to achieve his plan for Luke’s life, and to reach out through him to millions of thirsty, searching souls.

The Christian life is always like that. The partnership between each Christian and the Holy Spirit is a collaboration between true friends. Jesus doesn’t do everything himself, leaving us with some symbolic but useless gesture, like a dad who lets his son follow behind him with a plastic lawnmower. Instead, Jesus has given us the mysterious gift of freedom, and when we join his team, he wants us to put all our creativity, talents, and love into action on his behalf. If we do, the results will far outstrip our natural capacities, but our natural capacities will still be the basis of those results. It’s like the bread used at Mass. It’s small, flimsy, plain, and weak, but without our giving it to God, Christ’s Eucharistic presence would never come to pass.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Your Church is so human, Lord. Its history can only be explained by your gentle, sure hand guiding and protecting it in every era. Thank you for the Church. Thank you for this Gospel. Thank you for making sure that I would have a chance to hear the Good News of your salvation. Thank you for the gift of faith. Jesus, never let me be separated from you.

So many voices clamor for my attention. Jesus, teach me to tune in to your voice. Show me how to listen to the teachings of the Church, to the advice of the saints. My life is so short! I have so little time! Help me to keep first things first. Teach me to do your will, Lord.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that you have made your Kingdom depend in some small way on my efforts. But it’s true. You have called me, and you lead and inspire me, as you did with St Luke, to make my own unique contribution. Make me docile to heed your guidance; strengthen my spirit to persevere in doing your will; inflame my heart with true Christian zeal.

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. What do you think might have been the most exciting thing about living in the first Christian communities?

3. Some critics deride the Church because of its many cases of corruption throughout history. How would you respond to someone who made such an argument to you?

4. In general, how can you tell if an inspiration or an idea really comes from God?

Cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 4-10 on the nature of handing on the faith; 36-43 on knowing God through the Church and speaking of God within the limits of human language; 106-107 on the inspiration and truth of Sacred Scripture