Homily: Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time (Heb. 2:5-12) “A Letter without an Address”

During the first week of ordinary time the readings from scripture at Mass shift in a new direction. We concentrate on the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry. We also read from the Letter to the Hebrews.

If we look at how the epistles are arranged in the Bible, we see that the Letters of Paul are the first epistles that are put in the New Testament behind the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The letters attributed to Paul were arranged from the longest Romans down to the shortest (The Letter to Philemon).

Hebrews comes after those letters. Quite often people will introduce a reading from Mass and say, “A reading from a Letter of Paul to the Hebrews.” If we are not very familiar with the Bible, we might think that Paul was the only one to write Epistles. He has the largest body of writing in the New Testament. But Peter wrote some Epistles. James did and so did John according to tradition.

Hebrews never mentions an author. We don’t know who wrote it. Scholars believe it was written in the first century between two big persecutions. The author was writing to a specific church that had undergone persecution. We think that church was somewhere in Italy. The writer had a connection with this small, persecuted church.

The Letter to the Hebrews was downplayed for the first few centuries of the church’s history since its writer was not known. St. Athanasius, one of the church Fathers advocated for the importance of the Letter to the Hebrews in the fourth century. Since he was so influential, he was listened to and Hebrews was given the same status as other New Testament letters and became a part of the canon of scripture.

The letter made it into the canon because of the power of its Theological arguments. It was not valued because of who the teacher was it was valued because of the sound Theology that was in it. It’s Christian teaching could be said to be directed to the whole church. Every generation of Christians have benefitted from the Letter to the Hebrews. For that reason, it is unique among all the Epistles.

1.    Am I very familiar with the Letter to the Hebrews? Do I think it is important to consider who wrote each Epistle?

2.   The New Testament was not compiled for many years. Does that mean there were other writings that were lost?

 Dear Parishioners,

           We are now moving out of the Christmas season into Ordinary Time. We will be in this season of the church year until Lent begins in February. What is the virtue of ordinary time we might ask? The color for the season is green. Green denotes hope. As Christians we have great feasts and seasons that inspire us and we move from one holy day to the next. At the end of the Christmas Season, we are probably all a little worn out.

          But we might say that we try to maintain the afterglow. We live in hope throughout the year. That hope can get us through the dreary days that lie ahead of us. For a Christian each day is an opportunity to serve the Lord anew.

          May Our Lady watch over all of us this day.

          Fr. Mark