Dear Sinead and Mark,

Do you ever feel the need for someone or some group to give you new heart and hope- to put pep in your step again, and energy to go out and make a difference? Well, I know that I need that kind of boost, every so often.

President Barack Obama gave his Inauguration Address last Monday, January 21, 2013. It’s a powerful speech. There are extracts from it below, at the end of this. It lifts the heart.

And, do you know what, Sinead, Mark? We have the same kind of ‘Inauguration Address’ in the three readings placed before us at Mass today. They’re full of hope for the time ahead of us. Let me tell you just a little about them:

Ezra and Nehemiah,-ever heard of them? Not many of us have, to be honest. Yet, they had a great role as leaders in their community, at a critical time in the history of the Jewish people, our ancestors. One was a priest/scribe, the other a political leader. Together they had negotiated with the King of Persia (Iran, to us) the release of the captive Jews, and also permission to rebuild their Temple back home in Jerusalem. And today (in this reading), the people are back home- after two generations away in exile, somewhere about the year 440 BC- and the people all gathered, including ‘the children old enough to understand’, and their great Book was read to them,- the Book of God’s dealings with them. The people heard the words with great joy, from early morning to noon; they cried AMEN, AMEN! with joy, and were filled with tears of joy. Then, the Ezra and Nehemiah sent them all home to celebrate, -‘Do not be mournful, do not weep’-  for the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law….’Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, …for this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad; the joy of the Lord is your strength.’. It was a knees-up time! Let the music begin. Here was a new beginning for the people, the inauguration of a new era. And it’s an invitation to us, today, to hear the Word with great joy again, and to go home and celebrate it and live it with joy.  (See it in Nehemiah 8, today’s First Reading).

Paul (I Corinthians 12:12) sets out his stall, telling the disciples of Jesus in the port city of Corinth that they are all like one body in Christ,- all different parts, but all one body, with Jesus, needing each other, concerned for one another, and using all the varied gifts that the Spirit had given to people in the community. These new Christians (only baptized a few short years before) are the start of a new era in their world,- all of them living and working as ‘one body’ in Christ, caring for the world of people.

Jesus, at the very start of his three years of ministry, sets out his stall, (See Luke 4:12ff), when he reads out (-proclaims, gives his own ‘Inauguration Address’!-) in the synagogue of Capernaum, before all the people: a new era was beginning, here, too, with Jesus.  ‘‘The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me…sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, to set free the down-trodden, proclaim the Lord’s year of favour .’  And then he added: ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

And that’s our joy today- that’s your job and my job, to work together with others to bring good news to people, to set people free, to help people to see their dignity clearly, to help lift up people who are down-trodden by society, who are ignored and even walked upon by others.  It’s a fantastic vision for our world that Jesus had in his heart, his dream for his gathered people, who in turn would make the dream happen.

He wants to gather together followers,- people who are truly captivated by him, by his vision for the world, people who are fascinated by it and drawn to it as by a magnet. He’s about gathering people with this dream. Are you up for it? He looks for particular people, in every particular place,- meaning wherever we are, and whoever we are, and now. He’s in a hurry, because the world needs us. ‘This text is being fulfilled today, even as you listen’, he tells us.

Thanks, Sinead, Mark. Hope you have a great week. And mind the burgers!!

Fr. Seamus.

seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION SPEECH: (extracts)

(You can find it on You-tube as well):

Barack Obama set out his stall last Monday, 21 January, in his second Inauguration Address, in front of ¾ of a million people gathered, and in front of his nation and the world. He set out his dream, his hope, not for himself but for the nation, for himself as a citizen with all his fellow-citizens.  ‘We the people…’  and ‘You and I, as citizens…’ were repeated over and over again.

“You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time…with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; … collective action… Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as …one people.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations …are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity…  climate change,  our economic vitality and our forests and waterways; our croplands …we will preserve our planet, commended to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences peacefully …because (our) engagement (with each other) can more lastingly lift suspicion and fear.

And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still…

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

You and I, as citizens, have the power to… now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, …with common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, …the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT:     Jesus has a Dream for the world!

INAUGURATION SPEECHES and speeches with a passion for justice, can be up-lifting for the human heart and for entire communities, peoples and nations,- indeed for thw world.. Here we combine two well-known modern ones (one from this past week), with two we find in today’s Sunday Readings. How do you see the similarities? That’s our challenge for this Sunday. What is the voice of the Lord saying to us, what is the Dream for us, – in Ireland, Alaska, Maine, Sydney, Dubai… or wherever we find ourselves at this moment?

1.  Martin Luther King Jr. 1968, on the Mall in Washington DC:  “I have a dream!… When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last”!

(The full version of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech. www.metacafe.com/…/martin_luther_king_i_have_a_…

2.    President Barack Obama, January 21, 2013, Inauguration Speech, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, in front of ¾ of a million people gathered, and in front of his nation and the world. He set out his dream, his hope, not for himself but for the nation, for himself as a citizen with all his fellow-citizens.  ‘We the people…’  and ‘You and I, as citizens…’ were repeated over and over again.

“You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

 “You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time…with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

‘Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

‘But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; … collective action… Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as …one people.”

‘We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.

‘And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

(You can watch the Second Inaugural Speech of President Obama, January 21, 2013 on Youtube:   www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncqb-n3zMo )

3.   Jesus of Nazareth, in his home town: c. 26 A.D. His ‘Inauguration Speech’, at the beginning of his three years of ministry: (Text from Luke 4:14ff.)

‘‘The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me…sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, to set free the down-trodden, proclaim the Lord’s year of favour .’  And then he added: ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

This was Jesus’ ‘Inaugural Address’ in Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 4:14.   Jesus begins his years of ministry in the synagogue of his home town, Nazareth, using a text from the Prophet Isaiah. The Spirit of God had grasped him at this time, he said, and he was calling to people who would hear,  to follow him in his dream for the world, a dream of liberty for captives, freedom for the down-trodden, and sight for a world that is oftentimes blind. He is gathering a people who will share his dream and make the dream a reality wherever they find themselves. 

4.            Ezra, the Scribe: c. 460BC, Inauguration Speech, on the return home to Palestine of the Jewish people, exiled for over two generations: (from Today’s First Reading, Nehemiah 8:2-10) Notice the thirst of their hearing, their AMEN! AMEN!, a  response of YES to the Word of God, their bowing down in reverence, and then their going home filled with JOY, and ready to share their celebration with their neighbours.

“The people all gathered, including ‘the children old enough to understand.  Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.  Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

 The Levites…instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”

In other words, as with any Inauguration Address, the message is:  ‘Do not be sad; the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’. It was a knees-up time! Let the music begin. Here was a new beginning for the people, the inauguration of a new era.

See Text of this Reading, from Nehemiah Chapter 8, on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah+8&version=NIV

Today is our new day, a new beginning if we are ready to be in the gathering of the Master. “I have a dream!’  Have we got it?

Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R.           seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com