The Spirit is Upon Us - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

From the National Parks Conservation Association

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012719.cfm

A couple of weeks ago, I had the great blessing of accompanying our eighth grade students and parents to the March for Life in Washington D.C.  While we were there, we got to see many of the memorials set up to those who have served our country.   We marveled at the gigantic statue of Abraham Lincoln, saw the lifelike statues at the Korean memorial, took in the many paintings and statues around the Capitol building, and walked around Mount Vernon just as George Washington did many years ago.  When we go to places like this, it’s easy to become awed at the men and women who have led great lives and changed our world, but we’re also able to remember that behind these men and women, there are millions of people who, while not remembered by name or by statues, lived incredible lives for their families and communities, helping change the world in their own neighborhoods.  Then at the March for Life, we witnessed to the fact that every human life has this incredible dignity that’s given by God, which reminds us of our own dignity as well. 

I think it’s really similar for us in our faith.  Yes, it’s easy to see the statues of the saints we have in this Church and to pay attention to those who serve as visible leaders of our Church now, but do we remember that we also have an important role to play?  Can we recognize that even if we don’t have statues of us in future churches that our lives right now can help change the world?

In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry.  He goes into the synagogue at his hometown and reads this passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.”  This is a passage that was written several hundred years before Jesus lived, and now he is claiming it for himself, saying, “Yes, I am the one who fulfills this.”  And we see how he does that throughout the rest of the Gospel.  But here’s the incredible thing: this mission that Jesus has become our mission.  As Catholics, we’re not just passive observers cheering Jesus on (“Yay, go Jesus!”), but instead, we live in Jesus to spread His Gospel and be witnesses for the world.

St. Paul has been talking about this for the past couple of weeks in his letter to the Corinthians.  For St. Paul, the Church is the Body of Christ, and we are all parts of this body.  There was a line from last week’s second reading that struck me: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”  He doesn’t say, “To a few individuals” or “To most individuals,” but each individual, each one of us, has received the Holy Spirit to help build up the Church.  I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself forgetting this truth.  I can just be swept up in the day-to-day schedule that I forget that I possess the Holy Spirit and that I’m intimately united to Jesus in the Church.  St. Paul says today, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”  By our baptism and our confirmation, we possess the Holy Spirit, and every time we come to Mass, this can be a beautiful opportunity for us to remember this and receive Him even more deeply.

St. Paul also makes a further analogy: just as our own physical bodies have many parts that perform different functions, the Body of Christ has many different parts.  I find it humorous what Paul says: the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” nor the head to the feet, “I don’t need you.”  But then how often I think, “I’m able to do all this on my own.  I don’t need help” – and then when I fail, I need to be reminded of the fact that yes, I do need help from many others, that I’m not self-sufficient. 

So consider all of us – we all have many different strengths and gifts.  Some of us are really good with organization, with planning events and maintaining cleanliness and order.  Others are able to learn things quickly and then share what we’ve learned well with others.  Some are really talented with their hands, able to make beautiful and practical crafts and tools.  Others have the gift of contagious joy, to bring happiness and laughter into the lives of many others.  And there’s many other gifts that are represented here.  I don’t think this is too far from the reality of the church in St. Paul’s time – that all of these gifts really are manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and we don’t need to be afraid of sharing them with our Church.

Here at Immaculate Conception, we are brought together in the Body of Christ, and I can see so many signs of this.  I think of all of the people who come together to help our Sunday Masses be beautiful, well-organized, and joyful.  I think back to our parish festival where so many talents came together to show our community what we’re about as a parish.  I consider our school where both teachers and students use their gifts to build each other up and encounter the truth and beauty of the world.  I even think of activities like the Daughters of Isabella cookie bake – how many came together in an awesome process to make so many delicious cookies!  Again, I see these and so many other things as manifestations of the Holy Spirit in our midst, just as Jesus received the Holy Spirit in our Gospel.  (Note: while I use my parish as an example, I’m sure that nearly every parish has similar blessings and events – these are all signs of the Spirit’s work in us!)

As we move forward as a parish and continue to grow, I’d like for all of us to take some time now at this Mass and throughout this week to consider: what are our gifts and strengths?  What has the Holy Spirit given to you to share?  And if you think you don’t have any gifts to share, then I challenge you to ask someone who knows you well, “What are my gifts?” because they’re able to see them and share them with you.  Then, when we’re aware of our gifts, we can be bold in sharing them with our parish, both in the ministries and groups that we already have and the new ministries that will be beginning here.  As I talk with Father and many others about the future of this parish, I’m truly excited, and even though I’m only here for a few months, I’m confident that the Body of Christ is strong here and will become even stronger in the future.

We may not have statues or memorials built in our honor, but what a greater honor it is to be in the Body of Christ, working together to bring the Kingdom.  As we move into the Eucharist, I’d like to read for us again this prophecy of Isaiah, that it may be fulfilled in our hearing.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because he has anointed us to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent us to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  Holy Spirit, come into our hearts, show us the gifts that you give us, and let us share your salvation with our town and with the whole world.