Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on the 3rd Sunday in OT, 26 Jan 2025, Maryville Subd., Talamban

Allow me to begin with a short introductory note. From this Sunday onward during our Sunday Masses we will be reading from the gospel written by St Luke. Our reflective listening to this Gospel aims at enabling us to get to know Jesus more deeply from the perspective of this highly educated disciple who was probably not a Jew like the other three evangelists but had Jewish upbringing. He was a physician by profession, and he may not have been among the twelve apostles but many scholars think that he must have been among the seventy faithful disciples sent by Jesus to the various towns he intended to visit during his public ministry.

Luke’s purpose in writing his gospel was to arrange the abundant data about Jesus in an orderly manner. He was aware that the Christians during his time have already been taught so much about Jesus and have even heard the Gospel according to St Mark proclaimed to them. But he wanted to write something that would be more complete and orderly in order that they “may realize the certainty of the teachings you (they) have received” (Lk 1:4). Hence, all our Sunday Masses in Ordinary Time will be like walking with Jesus, Sunday after Sunday, following the footsteps of this holy evangelist. We hope and pray, therefore, that every Sunday Mass this Jubilee Year will truly be a close encounter with Jesus inspired by St. Luke.

Today is National Bible Sunday. Since 1982 National Bible Sunday was already being observed by both Catholics and Protestants as the culmination of the National Bible Week. It was proclaimed by President Ferdinand Marcos (Proclamation No. 2242) on Nov 19, 1982. Four years later, in 1986 it was transferred from November to January by Pres. Cory Aquino (Proclamation No. 44). And believe it or not in 2017 President Rodrigo Duterte declared the month of January as a National Bible Month (Proclamation No. 124). Then a year later the same president signed Republic Act 11163 declaring the last Monday of January as a special working holiday in observance of the National Bible Sunday. This “National Bible Day Act” (or the Senate Bill No. 1270) was actually authored by Senators Joel Villanueva and Manny Pacquiao and was unanimously approved 18-0 by all the senators. Thanks be to God! Our senators still believe in the importance of God’s Word. Senator Villanueva said “…that the Word of God is essential in our daily lives as it serves as guidance in every path we tread.”

The first reading today (Nehemiah 8:2-10) actually highlights the supreme importance of God’s Word. After the second wave of Jewish exiles had arrived in Jerusalem from Babylon, Ezra the priest assembled the people in an open place since their temple was still in ruins. Then standing on a wooden platform made for that occasion, he opened the scroll and read the book of the law from daybreak till midday while everyone – men, women and children old enough to understand – listened quietly and attentively. After the reading Ezra blessed the Lord God, while the people answered “Amen, amen” with their hands raised high towards sky. That was their first time after several decades of exile to hear God’s Word again proclaimed publicly in their own land.

In the gospel passage we heard today from St Luke (chap 1:1-4; 4:14-21), we see Jesus proclaiming God’s Word in the synagogue at Nazareth for the first time. And after rolling up the scroll, he preached explaining God’s Word as Good News because no matter how ancient the biblical texts are, their meaning was still alive and applicable even in the present time. So, looking at everyone’s eyes Jesus said to them solemnly “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Brothers and sisters, as we begin the Ordinary Sundays of this Jubilee Year, I would like to invite you to take up this challenge. It is called the “Read the Bible” Challenge. The Bible as Sacred Scriptures belongs precisely to us Catholics who are followers of Jesus. Let it not occur in your mind that attending Mass every Sunday would be enough. It could be only the minimum for one to be called a Catholic. It is not enough to express your devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist by simply attending Mass every Sunday. It is equally important to be devoted to our Lord by reflectively reading His Word found in Sacred Scriptures. The Bible is meant not to be just a decoration in our home libraries or office shelves. It is meant to be taken and read everyday like as if we are reading a love letter from a special someone. In fact the Responsorial Psalm expressed this so well: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”

And so I encourage you to take this “Read the Bible” challenge. I extend this challenge especially to the young people who are here. I dare you while you are still young to start reading the Bible. On a personal note, I started reading the Bible when I was in high school. The Bible I read was the one given to me by my Dad. And I still have it with me until now. From the day I started reading it, one chapter everyday beginning from the Book of Genesis I began to understand and appreciate the history of our salvation. I began to deepen my knowledge of Jesus and grew stronger in my relationship with him. And I stand here today as witness to the transforming power of God’s Word.

Allow therefore the Holy Bible to enable you to know Jesus more deeply. Allow God’s Word to guide you in your journey through life, so that you can make better decisions, and consequently you will have less regrets about the choices you make in life.

As soon as you are home after this Mass I propose that you try to open your own Bible, locate where Luke’s gospel is, and start reading from chapter 1. Read one chapter a day. This will take you only 24 days (or three weeks and three days) since this gospel has only twenty-four chapters. If you begin reading today you will definitely finish by February 18. It would be good for you to know that St John Bosco was an avid reader of books, and one of the books he frequently read was the Holy Bible. He read and meditated on God’s Word everyday. No wonder why he was able to discover soon his real calling and mission in life, to be the father, teacher and friend of the young, and to be a founder of religious congregations whose members would continue his mission even after his death. His feast day will be this coming January 31.

In addition, I strongly recommend that while reading the Bible, be sure to have a highlighter pen with you so that as you read through the verses you can highlight the words, phrases or verses that strike you most. You can also have a notebook and a pen with you so that you can immediately take down notes from what you read, especially passages that strike you, or passages that maybe difficult to understand or questions you might need to ask from the biblical experts. In this way God’s Word will soon become part of your Christian life; you will soon get to know Jesus more deeply and will surely find light and nourishment for your spiritual life day in and day out.

We pray in this Eucharistic celebration that as we walk with Jesus following the footsteps of St. Luke we may become more genuinely Christians, empowered to bring hope, especially during this Jubilee Year of Hope. GiGsss!

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