The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present the connection we have with God through salvation history and the call this offers us today.
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| Moving in the Spirit |
In the Book of Nehemiah, Ezra reads the words of the Scripture to the exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.
* [8:1–18] Chronologically this belongs after Ezr 8:36. The gloss mentioning Nehemiah in Neh 8:9 was inserted in this Ezra section after the dislocation of several parts of Ezra-Nehemiah had occurred. There is no clear evidence of a simultaneous presence of Nehemiah and Ezra in Jerusalem; Neh 12:26, 36 are also scribal glosses.1
And the role of Ezra:
It was in religious and cultic reform rather than in political affairs that Ezra made his mark as a postexilic leader. Jewish tradition holds him in great esteem. The apocryphal 2 Esdras, sometimes included as an appendix to the Vulgate, where it is known as 4 Esdras, transforms him into a prophet and visionary. The Talmud regards him as a second Moses, claiming that the Torah would have been given to Israel through Ezra had not Moses preceded him.2
Paul address the Corinthians using the metaphor of the human body for Christ.
* [12:12–26] The image of a body is introduced to explain Christ’s relationship with believers (1 Cor 12:12). 1 Cor 12:13 applies this model to the church: by baptism all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into one organism. 1 Cor 12:14–26 then develop the need for diversity of function among the parts of a body without threat to its unity.3
In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus announces his public ministry by connecting His mission to the words of Isaiah.
The sermon “God’s Children: Gifted for Ministry” by Charles F. Stanley suggests the role of the Spirit in our gifts.
here is one more element that’s essential for the effective exercise of our gifts. Sandwiched between two chapters about spiritual gifts, Paul writes of the importance of love (1 Cor. 13:1-3). No matter how great our gifts or how proficiently we use them, if we do not have love, they are ineffective and profit us nothing.4
Joe Zaborowski finds the contentment of retirement freeing him to listen openly, and see things happening in God’s time, not his.
So my hope for me and all is to continue to listen and be open to the spirit. We can easily get caught up in the noise of life: Work, family, political rancor or the latest Netflix original series. I must remember to put aside the worldly more and more each day and follow Christ. Perhaps not as well as those saintly men and women that I read about in the Lives of the Saints but in my own way. The goal is not to be read about in a book but to give glory to God and do His will with the help of the gift of grace.5
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus fulfills the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"Now it was necessary that he should manifest himself to the Israelites and that the mystery of his incarnation should now shine forth to those who did not know him. Now that God the Father had anointed him to save the world, he very wisely orders this also [that his fame should now spread widely]. This favor he grants first to the people of Nazareth, because, humanly speaking, he had grown up among them. Having entered the synagogue, therefore, he takes the book to read. Having opened it, he selects a passage in the Prophets which declares the mystery concerning him. By these words he himself tells us very clearly by the voice of the prophet that he would both be made man and come to save the world. For we affirm that the Son was anointed in no other way than by having become like us according to the flesh and taking our nature. Being at once God and man, he both gives the Spirit to the creation in his divine nature and receives it from God the Father in his human nature. It is he who sanctifies the whole creation, both by shining forth from the Holy Father and by bestowing the Spirit. He himself pours forth his own Spirit on the powers above and on those who recognized his appearing." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 12)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 shares that in the immediate sense, we know that Jesus really was anointed by the Holy Spirit when he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. But in the long-term sense, Jesus wants us to know that the same Spirit has anointed us as well.
When Jesus gave us the Great Commandment—to love God and to love one another—he was telling us to follow his example. He was telling us to go and set people free. He was urging us to hear and respond to the cry of the poor. He was asking us to be as concerned with people who are in need as we are with our relationship with him.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, presents Amos Smith’s scholarship to explore how the incarnation is essential to our faith
Miaphysite is the non-dual awareness of Christ, who as Cyril of Alexandria put it, is “at once God and human.” If Jesus is at once God and human, that means as believers we cannot refer to Jesus as God without qualifying that: “God in human form.” We also cannot refer to Jesus as human only without qualifying that: “the human incarnation of God.” The legacy of Miaphysite theology is only well preserved today in the Oriental Orthodox Church (not to be confused with Eastern Orthodox). Miaphysite is the crown jewel of the Alexandrian Mystics. It is the center piece that holds the various strands of Mystic Christianity together. [1]8
and how we, too, participate in this mystery of creation embodying the divine.
References.
1
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(n.d.). Nehemiah, chapter 8 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/nehemiah/8
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2
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(n.d.). Ezra — introduction - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://usccb.org/bible/ezra/0
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3
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(n.d.). 1 Corinthians 12. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians12.htm
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4
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(2016, June 20). One Body, Many Parts - In Touch Ministries. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/the-pulpit/one-body-many-parts
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5
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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6
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org
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8
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(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: January 2019 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved January 27, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/01/
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