Reflection on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are now settling down into Ordinary Time for a few weeks between the Christmas season and Lent.  We start to hear of Christ’s public ministry which began last week with the first miracle at the wedding at Cana of changing water into wine.  Over the next weeks, we’ll start to hear more about who Jesus is, he’ll gather his apostles, and we’ll hear the Sermon on the Mount.  We’ll learn how we are to live.

Our music during this time also goes back to ‘ordinary’.  We’ll sing more general songs of praise, such as this week’s opening song, “Gather the People”.  The gathering rite is such an important part of our liturgy that often times gets overlooked – it’s just people coming into church after all.  It is so much more than that.  It is a gathering together of the People of God.  We are coming together to worship our God as we have been instructed through all of time. We are bringing our issues, lifting them up in prayer, praying for one another, and giving glory to God. The text of this hymn pulls all of the ideals of the gathering rite together succinctly: “Gather the people! Enter the feast!  All are invited, the greatest and least.  The banquet is ready, now to be shared. Join in the heavenly feast that God has prepared.”

In the Gospel, we hear of Christ going to the synagogue and reading from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  Once again, He’s showing to the world who He is.  We need to follow Him.  Our song at the preparation of the altar gets us ready to listen and follow Him.  “Your words are spirit and life, O Lord: richer than gold, stronger than death.  Your words are spirit and life, O Lord; life everlasting.” (“Your Words Are Spirit and Life” by B. Farrell)  Really take the words of this song to heart this week.  Here’s a few phrases to reflect upon:

Your words are spirit and life
God’s command is so clear it brings us new vision, bringing God’s light to our eyes
God’s truth is eternal, bringing us justice
Sweeter than honey, [his] word will feed us