3 Sunday in

Ordinary Time
rd

22 January 2017
Is. 8:23 9:3
I Cor. 1:10-13.17
Mt. 4:12-23

INTRODUCTION:

Isaiah and Matthew in the

readings for this week
make specific historical
reference in the history
of Israel and in the life
of Jesus.

1 The 1st Reading brings us

back to the 8th century
BC during the time of the
prophet Isaiah.

1 A century before Isaiah Assyrians hit

hard on Israel especially in the NW
near and around the Sea of Galilee

namely Zebulon and

Napthali and brought its
inhabitants as prisoners
to Babylon.

The people that walked in

darkness has seen a great light;
on those who live in a land of
deep shadow, a light has shone.

Matthew, well versed in

Hebrew Scripture, applied this
passage from Isaiah to Jesus as
a public figure who comes
from Nazareth, a region in
Zebulon and Naphtali, looked
upon with disdain by people
from the South.

2
Can anything good
come from Nazareth?
asked Nathaniel. Matthew
precisely quotes the above
passage from Isaiah.

2
Now we have a standard Biblical motif:

God has a way

of bringing the
best out of the
worst; of making
wonders from
the least

The logic of God that runs

relentlessly through the Bible:

Light tends to come

from darkness; Grace
breaks through the most
unexpected corner!

The logic of the

World, seen from
ADS, movies and
theme songs, is quite
the opposite
Success builds on
success! Pains, sufferings
like growing old is to be
avoided at all cost!

3 Logic of God runs through

the Bible and in the lives of the Saints:
From Abraham and Sarah barren
comes the children of the Promise:
Isaac, Jacob, etc.
Joseph, sold and imprisoned,
becomes the viceroy of Egypt.
Moses, in exile for years, become
the liberator of Israel.

3 Logic of God runs through

the Bible and in the lives of the Saints:
Hannah, childless and forgotten,
becomes the mother of Samuel,
one of Israels greatest prophets.
David, the youngest son, become
King of Israel.
Jeremiah who stammers becomes
a great prophet.

3 Logic of God runs through

the Bible and in the lives of the Saints:
Paul the Persecutor
becomes the Apostle of the
Gentiles.
The Crucified Jesus is
the Son of God.
St. John of the Cross
was asked by Jesus what he

Logic of God runs through

the Bible and in the lives of the Saints:

Teresa of Avila
The Little Flower
Padre Pio

CONCLUSION:
What is the Zebulon and
Naphtali in your life?
What right now is the place of
darkness and gloom in your
life?
What opposition and hardship
are you experiencing now?
+ART

CONCLUSION:

In weakness,
power
reaches
perfection.

It can be a psychological
suffering or a persistent
sin. St. Paul reflected on
his thorn in the flesh; three
times he asked the Lord
to be taken away but the
Lord did not, telling him:
+ART