3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C - A New Dawn & “Lord, You Give the Great Commission”

The meaning of this Sunday’s liturgy is subtle and many-layered. We need some background to understand what’s happening in the First Reading (Neh. 8:2-10).

After Babylon was defeated, King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the exiled Jews could return home to Jerusalem. They rebuilt their ruined temple under Nehemiah, and finished rebuilding 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. As Ezra read and interpreted the Law, the people responded with a great “Amen!”

Israel, as we sing in today’s Psalm (Ps. 18), is rededicating itself to God and His Law. The scene seems like the Isaiah prophecy that Jesus reads from in the Gospel (Lk 1:1-21). The “glad tidings” Isaiah brings include these promises: the liberation of prisoners, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of Israel as a kingdom of priests and the forging of an everlasting covenant. Very similar to the First Reading.

Jesus, in turn, declares that Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in Him. Like Ezra, Jesus stands before the people, is handed a scroll, unrolls it, then reads and interprets it. We witness the creation of a new people of God. Ezra started reading at dawn of the first day of the Jewish new year. Jesus also proclaims a “sabbath,” a great year of Jubilee, a deliverance from slavery to sin, a release from the debts we owe to God. The people greeted Ezra “as one man.” As the Epistle teaches (1 Cor. 12:12-30), in the Spirit, the new people of God—the Church—is made “one body” with Him.

In honor of the Sunday of the Word of God, we’d like to share our latest video with you, “Lord, You Give the Great Commission”, a beautiful hymn of Christ’s Great Commission found in three of the Gospel accounts. The most famous is Matthew’s version: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:19-20)

Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below: