Holy Week Homily
04/16/2019
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters…" (I
Cor 1:26), so writes Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul in this
passage is urging his followers in Corinth, most of who were poor and from
various cultures, to consider the social and ethical implications of their new lifestyle
as followers of Christ. A lifestyle that must immediately abandon former ways
of being, however traditional and familiar, and acknowledge the way of Christ
as the only way.
Paul urges this hodge podge of Corinthian citizens to
abandon, immediately, any and all established social norms not congruent with a
way of life that proclaims God in Christ Jesus. Jesus who became for them - for
us – a light that guides us into a way of being that demonstrates the wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption from God as the source of their lives.
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters…" is
a directive that can also be applied to today's reading from Isaiah and our
gospel reading from John.
The prophet Isaiah cries out, "Listen to me, O
coastlands, pay attention you people from far away." (Isa 49:1). He is
appealing to those who have experienced the loneliness and hardships of exile,
urging them to recognize that their suffering has not been in vain. Indeed, God
is, and has always been, with them. God has chosen them to, "…raise up the
tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel." God has chosen
them to be a, "…light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
ends of the earth." (Isa 49:6)
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters…"
"I have chosen you to be a light to the nations, that my salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth."
Finally, in John, Jesus says to those who question his
authority as Son of Man, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk
while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you
walk in darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the
light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light."
(John 20:35-36)
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters…"
"I have chosen you to be a light to the nations, that my salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth." "The light is with you for a little
longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake
you. If you walk in darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you
have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the
light.”
The light that Jesus sheds is not a flashlight type of light
– it a light that illuminates a way of being. A way of being that is a response
to the love of God for man. A way of being that could possibly be
transformative for mankind – could potentially bring about world peace.
The light to the nations that God has dreamed that we his
servants will shine, is also not a flashlight type of light. It is a light that
illuminates a way of being… the way of love, salvation, and redemption that is
possible if we follow Jesus. If we claim Jesus as the way, the truth and the
life.
For us, a resurrection people, this means that as this Lenten
period ends and we witness the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord – as we
proclaim loudly and with joy, Alleluia – we also experience a resurrection. We
hear our call. We pick up the torch – the light of Christ. We refuse to walk in
darkness. We chose to end a life lived in darkness and leave behind old ways of
being. We take up the light of Christ. We take the light of Christ beyond the
cross and into the world – the world that remains in darkness.
We follow Jesus out of darkness into light. We become a light
to all nations.
