Talk OT (C) 3rd Sunday - Is My Life an Inspiration?

You walk down a long, dark, subterranean hallway towards a distant light. All is empty and quiet except for the clacking of your own cautious footsteps. Where am I? The light, you soon discover, is emanating from a towering portal, which you reach in time. With circumspection you cross its threshold and behold a vast, multi-tiered gallery, adorned with elegant candle chandeliers and marble balustrades. The room—if so it may be called, for at present you have no notion as to its boundaries—seemed to stretch on infinitely, housing an endless line of mahogany bookstands. Perhaps the eerie silence might have paralyzed you had not an uncontrollable curiosity beckoned you to venture out towards those colossal wooden dominos.

So many books! There must be millions of them, you think to yourself. Enthralled by the magnetizing beauty of this underground world, you forget your fear and allow your fingers to slide over the contents of the magnificent shelves. Then it dawns on you that each of the books has something strange in common. A person’s name is engraved in gold along the leather spines of each book. You pull one down from the shelf and begin to peruse its pages. With wonder you ascertain that this is no ordinary book; the words that fill its pages are not printed but hand-written. You take down another book only to discover it shares the same enigmatic trait. Perplexed, you seek out a remote sector of the library, but no matter where you turn, no aisle contains any other kind of book.

This isn’t a library. I’m in an archive of life stories!

The thought almost steals your breath, when a familiar name suddenly catches your eye! In a frenzied hunt, you begin pulling down dozens of books, all bearing names you know. You crouch to the hardwood floor and begin to read.

There all is recounted: the rehearsal that culminated in success, the championship that ended in defeat, the night when love was first awakened, the day when faith was at last restored, the bitter fight healed by a friend’s forgiveness, the tragedy of youth stamped out by enemies at war.

How long you pass absorbed in these all-knowing pages, you do not know, but of this much you are sure: they tell no lie nor omit any detail. They speak at once of glorious victories and mundane deeds, noble virtues and unspeakable miseries. Every joy and every sorrow has left its mark.

An unexpected thought interrupts the fast chain of emotions. Leaving a pile of books in disarray on the floor, you jump to your feet and pace feverishly through the rows of bookstands, your eyes scanning every book. There!

Could it be true? In the reflected light of the live chandeliers, your own gilded name seems to pierce you through. Slowly, solemnly, you take down the book from the shelf and linger for a moment, looking down on the mystery in your hands.

You open your book. With wide eyes, you trace your fingers over words written in your own unmistakable handwriting, but you have no recollection of recording what you find written there. Never mind! The contents of the page sweep you away. You spontaneously smile at the fondness of the memory recorded there. Soon you are laughing heartily, falling under the spell of your own words. Indeed they seemed to unlock a special power, permitting you to relive, but in a deeper dimension, the happenings that were at once familiar to you and yet strangely new. Effortlessly, you continue reading until sadness fills your heart and tears well up in your eyes. This web of contradictions, this magnificent mess, is your life.

Long hours pass before you reach the page on which the words run out. In a daze of confusion, you flip forward only to find more empty pages. With a backward glance towards the rows of shelves, home to a myriad of ended life stories, it occurs to you that your story is still being written. That’s when an undecipherable sound coming from the direction of the gallery’s gateway reaches your ears.

Oh no! There is so much you would wish to discover down here, but you suspect that your visit to these secret archives must come to a premature end.

You look down one last time upon the treasure in your hands, and for that instant, time stood still. Gazing upon the pages of your book, you do not lose hope. They are clean and white.

Graduation Speech

· The metaphor I just shared with you comes from my high school graduation speech, and it is an image that has motivated me for many years. I made no direct reference to God on the stage that day in the summer of 1999, but I am forever captivated by the thought that God knows every intimate detail about the life of each of his children. I am in awe of his gift of freedom by which, day after day, we have the privilege to write on the pages of human history.

Is my life an inspiration?

But let us shift gears and speak of present times, not about word-books but face-books. Yes, Facebook. Okay, there is one word I’ll draw your attention to. It’s a word that in recent times has taken on a whole new dimension because (I think) of Facebook. That word is LIKE [thumbs up]. You know what I’m talking about. Each day millions of people share personal stories or images on the internet, hoping they will be LIKED by others.

Many posts are driven by a desire to get something for ourselves. For example, the Cordell kids took a picture holding a sign which read, “My dad says if we get 1 million LIKES, we can get a puppy!” And it worked!

[TANGENT: My favorite is the three small children with a poster which read, “Our Mom says if we get a million LIKES, we won’t get DIDDLY SQUAT. She says if we want something in life, we should work for it!!!”]

On and off Facebook, we often speak and act to get a permission, a puppy, or any other material thing but to win the esteem of others. In general, it is best not to waste time worrying about getting others to LIKE us, but I do think there is a seed of truth here worthy for us Christians to maintain.

Vanity is one thing. Charity is another. I should care about whether others benefit from my example and good works. I should care about the question, “Is my life an inspiration?”

II. Understanding Inspiration

Luke and Inspiration

A certain kind of inspiration is a theme in today’s readings. In today’s highly unusual Gospel passage we begin in Luke, chapter one, verse one. “I’ve decided to write for you, Theophilus.” We read one sentence and then skip to chapter 4, where Jesus gives his first homily, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Why the jump? There must have been a reason for linking these two Gospel passages, which in the Bible are separated by three chapters.

Analyzing the two, the questions only grow. Scene 1 shows a human word, written by a human author. Scene 2 reveals us a divine, living word, proclaimed in the Spirit by its divine author. How is that possible? Which one is it? Is the Bible the Word of God or the word of man? Who wrote the Gospel we just read, Luke or the Holy Spirit?

A Letter to Luke

Let’s ask the evangelist himself, as one elementary school student once did in a letter.

Dear St. Luke, while you are having lots of fun up there, I am in religion class down here. According to Ms. M., the Pope says you don’t deserve the credit for your book.

For all the books that the Church receives as sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit (Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical letter Providentissimus Deus, 1893, n. 20).

That’s AWESOME! I’ve gotta ask you, did you know that as you wrote on the paper (or papyrus or whatever)? Did you hear a voice from heaven? Did it sound like Darth Vader’s? I’ve heard of Magic Markers, but I didn’t think they had those back then. Did you close your eyes and just let the tingling in your fingertips move you? How did you do it? Mrs M. won’t tell me, which is why I’m writing you. Let me know cuz I wanna try this at home.

Thanks, Theo.

There’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is, after perusing Luke’s writings, I didn’t find any reply to Theo. The good news is we don’t need it. In today’s liturgy, Luke says it all. Look! The Gospel begins with a very ordinary, deliberate, premeditated human endeavor: “I have decided…” Luke had a concrete goal: he wrote “so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.” He applied the means: he did his homework, interviewed the eyewitness and arranged events and themes in “an orderly sequence.”

If Luke was simply operating as a professional, what room is there for “dictation of the Holy Spirit?” We may have a misguided image of inspiration. So did Caravaggio.

Caravaggio

Even the greatest painter in Rome in 1600 had his flops. The first time he painted the “Inspiration of St. Matthew,” he struck out big time. Dirty feet, wrinkled brow, empty stare—the inspired author wasn’t very inspiring. He didn’t even know how to trace Hebrew letters with his pen, let alone compose a Gospel. The angel was doing all the work, and Christians were scandalized. This wasn’t what “inspiration” meant.

Thankfully, Caravaggio was given a second try, and he crafted the masterpiece we now know and love. The new Matthew stood at his desk, weathered but dignified and self-aware, and the angel hovered in the sky at a safe distance. This time, the inspired author listened to God’s voice but moved his own pen.

Dei Verbum: men were true authors

Caravaggio’s improvement helps us answer our question. Who authors Sacred Scripture, human beings or God?

To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in their task, made full use of their powers and faculties so that, though he acted in and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written and no more (Dei Verbum 11).

For us Catholics then, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were authentic authors. Thus we say, “A reading from the Gospel according to Luke.” The evangelists used their human intelligence and free will to write, but (and here’s the zinger), their words would still have God as their principle author. Thus we conclude, “The Word of the Lord.”

Instrumental author (human), principle author (divine)

The key distinction to make is that Luke was just an instrument of God, like a paintbrush in the hand of the master Artist. The only difference is that this paintbrush happened to have spiritual faculties: intelligence and free will. That’s no problem for God. He’s big enough! Who knows how Caravaggio’s canvas would have turned out if his brushes moved themselves, but God is such a superior artist that he can orchestrate the greatest masterpiece even while honoring our freedom.

Where do we get the word “inspiration” from? Ever wonder? Not from a philosopher, theologian, or Pope, but from Scripture itself.

All Scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16).

Yet in the original Greek of Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, we don’t find an exact equivalent of “in-spire,” but another word that is much richer. The Apostle writes that “all Scripture is theopneustos,” that is, God-breathed. And whereas man’s breath is a symbol for fleetingness and a synonym of vanity, God’s breath is the power source of creation. “By the LORD'S word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host” (Ps 33:6). Or think of Adam, into whom God breathed life in Genesis, chapter 2, separating him from the rest of creation. The words of the sacred page have also been imbued with a divine life-force, making them unlike any other text ever written. Scripture is to Shakespeare [his writings] as Shakespeare [the man] is to clay. (Shakespeare the man is incommensurably more than clay. And Shakespeare’s plays are incommensurably less than sacred Scripture). When it came time to translate theopneustos into Latin, we didn’t do violence to Latin with an overly literal translation, deospiratus, because the existing word inspiratus successfully transmitted the idea. Thus, we have the English inspired.

Which translation do you like better: inspired or God-breathed? I love to think about Scripture as God-breathed, because this highlights the essential point that God is the principle author for the whole Bible with all of its parts. When I read Luke’s words, I know that God is speaking to me! But I also love the word “inspiration” because it captures two sides of one coin: God’s action and man’s collaboration. Luke was inspired to deliver God’s message, and he did it … exactly as God wanted!

III. Now It Gets Personal

So what?

Father, do we really need to care about these complicated ideas? I already believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it teaches without error. On a normal day, nobody is going to ask me to explain to them the inner mechanics of Biblical inspiration. What does “instrumental and principle authorship” have to do with my life today?

The answer is “Everything!” The analogy is all-encompassing: just as free men once wrote “whatever [God] wanted written and no more” (DV) in the pages of a sacred book, so are we called to write with our free deeds only God’s biddings on the pages of history. Our whole lives should be inspired.

But if they are to be inspired than they need to change, but we can only change if we receive an inspiration. The inspired Word doesn’t only reveal our goal; it gives us the power to reach it.

Allow me to call attention to a potential obstacle to our happiness and a danger to our spiritual lives. We want others to LIKE us, and we want to be inspiring—and this may be natural and praiseworthy in the measure that our intentions are pure—but we can invest far too much thought and energy and interest into the image we want to project, and far too little into the inspiration God wants to infuse? Can we really hope to inspire others in any meaningful or lasting way if we are not first blessed with help from on high? God wants to give that help, and he did. He wrapped it up in his inspired Word, and there—in that little leather-bound book beside your bed, and even more, in that gargantuan Lectionary from which the deacon or priest proclaims the Gospel at Holy Mass—on those pages, big or small, life-changing supernatural grace awaits you every day. If private Bible study and personal lectio divina is fruitful, an even greater power is unleashed in the liturgy of the Word.

The first reading from Nehemiah is perfect proof that reading in our churches “the words of God expressed in the words of men” (Dei Verbum 13) is meant to shape our way of being.

A little background to understand what’s happening: we’re at the end of the Babylonian exile. For some 50 years the Jews had been kicked out of their country; the Temple was destroyed, and the sacred vessels pillaged.

To give an idea of the drama, imagine if Afghani terrorists sacked St. Peter’s, exiled the Pope, murdered the bishops, burned all the Bibles and sent Catholics packing to Kabul. Imagine living five decades without freedom to worship as God taught us how, before the Russians conquer Afghanistan and liberate the exiled Catholics. I would be 82 upon my return to Rome!

That’s the first reading. King Cyrus of Persia defeated Babylon and decreed (539 BC) that the exiled Jews could return home to Jerusalem. They rebuilt their ruined temple and the city walls. The stage was set for the renewal of the covenant and the re-establishment of the Law of Moses as the people’s rule of life. Ezra stood on a height and when he opened the scroll, all the people rose to receive God’s Word. (Sound familiar?) As Ezra interpreted the Law, the people raised their hands high and cried out, “Amen!”

I don’t mind if you refrain from fist-pumps at Mass, but whenever God reveals himself to us, our hearts should always be ready to respond with a faith-filled “Amen!” Far from being a dead letter, we must translate the Scriptures text into godly living. May God’s Word live in us!

The Living Word that gives new life

We meet the living Word in Scene 2 of today’s Gospel. Jesus, like Ezra, also reads the Scriptures in the midst of the assembly, and all eyes are fixed on him. He finishes, rolls up the scroll and proclaims a profound and mysterious message for his first homily. “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing,” as if to say that the purpose of Scripture—passed down through long centuries—were meant to resonate in my soul today, as if the written text were only a latent seed but one packed with God’s power and life. It begins to blossom as soon as it is planted in our souls.

Will the seed of God’s Word bear fruit in us? Jesus teaches that its efficacy depends on the dispositions of our soul. There are “the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Luke 4:20).

These words inspired me to write our elementary school friend, Theo.

Dear Theo,

I couldn’t agree more: God’s Word is AWESOME! Inspired and inspiring…like you! I’m so glad the thought of St. Luke’s experience in writing God’s inspired Word made you want to “try this at home.” You’re either a genius or you were inspired when you wrote that!

May the inspired Word inspire you to live an inspiring life! “Believe what you read; teach what you believe; practice what you teach.” Consecrate your mind, your lips and your hands to him, so that he may live in you. Think, say, and do whatever God wants and no more. Give him your friends, your inbox, your free time, your bank account (when you get one, of course!), your secret thoughts, your public words, your trophies, your sufferings, your mind, soul, body, and strength. If you do, he will send you his divine breath, his Holy Spirit. Your very life will be God-breathed, and it will be an inspiration to countless others.

In Christ, Fr. Andrew

III. Where the analogy falls short

My book is rife with error

I guess Theo shared my letter with his religion class because I soon got a letter from Mrs. M.

Thank you, Father Andrew, for helping me to encourage the children with your words. Now let me ask you a grown-up question of my own. I’m not St. Luke. His book is inspired and inerrant. The book of my life is full of typos and smudges. How can I hope to live perfectly in sync with God’s will? How can I hope to be an inspiration to others when my own life is a mess?

It’s so true, isn’t it? Try as we might, we often fail miserably. God gives us many talents and our freedom that we might know, love, and serve him, but we botch the job. We trip and fall and sin. Only Immaculate Mary kept all of her pages stain-free. Her sinless life is like Luke’s inerrant Gospel, but what about the rest of us?

There’s good news: in God’s desk drawer, there’s plenty of White-Out.

God’s White-Out

Obviously, this is not an invitation to sin or to take sin lightly. Yet, sin is part of our daily experience. According to Scripture, even “the just man falls seven times” (Prov 24:16). We must know, though, that God has a solution for it. It’s called redemption, and it’s at the core of Jesus’ message. In the synagogue Christ chose these words from Isaiah to apply to himself:

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free.

Sin has made us prisoners of darkness, but for this very reason Jesus came into our world. Quoting the prophet of old, Jesus gave us his eternal job description. Those timeless words would be destined to echo long into the future, telling all generations who this Jesus really is. Essentially he said, “I am your Liberator, Healer, and Savior!” And this will be true every day of our lives. We trip; he lends his hand. We fall seven times but get up eight!

Holiness is nothing else. You didn’t think sanctity was for those who never fall, did you? But when we find ourselves covered in mud, what can we do? Where can we wash?

Now, it is true that certain sins can only be “whited-out” by sacramental confession, but no sin is ever cause for despair because, as long as we sincerely repent, there are no insurmountable obstacles to our holiness. Whatever sins we confess simply do not exist. They have been handed over to God and consumed by the holy fire of his saving love.

But the sacrament of Reconciliation is not God’s only White-out. God’s Word was given for this purpose too. Our Lord said at the Last Supper, “you are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). And notice that he didn’t say “your filth is removed,” but instead “you are made clean.” Perhaps a better name for God’s correction fluid would be White-In, not White-Out.

Is it really so surprising that God’s words sanctify our soul when we recall that Jesus himself is called the Logos, the Word of God (John 1)? All who looked upon Jesus of Nazareth saw his humanity, but only those with faith discovered his divinity. These blessed ones “read” the eternal Word of the Father “written” in human flesh. Now when we read the Scriptures, we look upon human language, but in faith we meet a living Word (cf. DV 13).

Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart (Heb 4:12).

Yes, God’s Word is alive, according to Scripture, and what the Bible affirms, the Catholic Church perpetually celebrates. After proclaiming the Gospel, the priest kisses it and prays quietly, Per evangélica dicta, deleántur nostra delícta. “Through the words of the Gospel, may our sins be wiped away.”

We should marvel at how utterly perfect this Word is. Not only did God author the Bible without White-out, even though he used limited creatures in the process, but he also made Scripture be White-out for the sinful men who faithfully read it. God’s Word is not only stain-free; it’s also stain-removing!

Obviously, the words of the Bible aren’t magical sin-erasers that automatically sanctify all who gaze upon them. If only it were so easy! Again, our dispositions count, but God’s Word is by nature always a word of grace. And grace is nothing other than the communication of God´s holy life to men.

We should run to the Scriptures for the same reason we run to our Savior:

we must acknowledge the Books of Scripture as teaching firmly, faithfully and without error the truth that God wished to be recorded in the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation (Dei Verbum 11).

This affirmation should astound us. How does a word work our salvation? How does a word do anything? What is this mysterious Word we encounter when we read the Bible? Search the whole earth, and tell me where is the wise or holy man who can destroy your sin and liken your soul to God. Are we really to believe, then, that ink on paper—jots and tittles—can do it?

There is more to these words than meets the eye. For they are “the words of God expressed in the words of men” (Dei Verbum 13). They are God-breathed, and so, they are a point of contact between heaven and earth, like the Cross of Christ. They are a life-line to Jesus, our living Savior. In these words we meet the Word. Ultimately, the Word of God isn’t an it. It’s a He.

TO ADD: We can go a step further. God’s word isn’t just stain-removing, it’s life-giving. Jesus himself said so, quoting Dt 8:3: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4).

Recap

Let’s summarize what we’ve seen. Our lives are called to be like the Bible, inspired and inspiring. The Bible is not just the word of men, nor is it just the Word of God. It is both. Our lives should be freely written but also God-breathed. We should write on the pages of history whatever God wants written and no more.

Although we need to care that our lives inspire, we don’t need to stress about how we go about doing that. Instead, we need to strive to receive all the grace and inspiration God wants to give.

Docility shouldn’t be confused with passivity. We should not fold our hands and just “let God work.” As Pablo Picasso famously said, “Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.”

Recap

Finally, I would suggest three specific action items.

1. Purify the attitudes and dispositions of our soul.

2. Read the Scriptures constantly.

3. Translate them into godly living.

4. Repeat Step One…

Is that hard to remember? Just think: HEART, EYES, HANDS.

Back to the Books

Before we end, let’s return to underground gallery where the mystery of our own life is being recorded. In the light of Christ and having human history which he came to redeem in the flesh and remain through his living Word, how do you want your story to fit in to his bigger picture? Do not fear for the past. There is no heartache he cannot heal, no tragedy he cannot redeem. Know that on the pages that remain to be written, he earnestly desires to make of your life a brilliant achievement, a channel of grace—in a word, an inspiration!

The Word-made-Flesh, the Flesh-made-Bread

We have been nourished on this day with the Word. Now the time has come to consume the Word. I repeat our Lord´s words at the Last Supper, “you are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). Then he fed them with his own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. As we close the Liturgy of the Word unfolds into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, let us prepare our soil so that what he plants may blossom. And as we go forth from this sanctuary, may he fill us with his divine breath that our whole lives may be an inspiration.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Reading 1 Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand. Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. He opened the scroll so that all the people might see it— for he was standing higher up than any of the people —; and, as he opened it, all the people rose. Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!”

Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground. Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.

Then Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep”—or all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

Psalm Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15

R. (cf John 6:63c) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; The ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Gospel Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me 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.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

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