January 26 th, 2025 (3 Sunday Ordinary C)
Dear brothers and sisters,
today Ezra and Nehemiah bring back “the Torah” to the people of Israel who were living in exile. They begin to proclaim from the scroll all the mighty deeds the Lord had done and the ordinances he had commanded. People cry when after so long they hear the word of God proclaimed to them. Christ also at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke enters the synagogue and proclaims a passage from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and proclaims the word of God to the people. Christ reads the passage which announces the end of the exile, the freedom from slavery, the restoration of sight to the blind and of hearing to the death and begins interpreting it announcing, “today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”. Christ in truth comes to liberate us. Christ frees us from the exile of sin. Through his word he opens our ears, restores our sight and sets us free. Every time we listen in the assembly to the word of God proclaimed it has an immense power. It is Christ himself; he is the “Word become flesh” that wants to become flesh and alive also in us. This word of eternal life comes to us today and fulfills all the promises we just heard. As Ezra and Nehemiah announce, “let us not be saddened today, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” Christ opens our dead ears, and opens our blind eyes and gives to us his eternal life.