This is based on the readings of the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 22, 2007).
Great-great-grandmother Vavra, newly arrived in this country in 1855, set off with her pail from her home in Bohemia, New York, trudging through the woods to buy milk from the farms a few miles north. She arrived, somewhat lost, at the railroad station in Lakeland. Helpful folks, not able to understand her, put her on the train to New York City. In the city, someone was able to translate for her and people put her back on the train to Lakeland. She arrived home many hours later with an empty milk pail but with a lot to say about her great adventure.
Stories like this, shared with others who are related to us, make us family.
Stories about George Washington and the perils and heroism of the founders of our country, shared with others who live in our country, make us citizens.
The readings today remind us how large a part shared tradition plays in making us Catholic Christians.
In the first reading, the setting is sometime in the latter fifth century or early fourth century B.C. Numbers of Jewish people have returned to their homeland after years of forced exile following loss in a disastrous war. They have rebuilt Jerusalem and their Temple, though on a scale which is a poor and sad reflection of past glory. But more than buildings are necessary to restore their sense of identity. With the people assembled, Ezra, a priest, recalls their tradition, in this case, the law that was the expression of the relationship between God and Israel. This renewed call to national and religious identity was a cause for rejoicing.
In the Gospel, we're reminded twice of the importance of tradition. Luke introduces his Gospel by saying that he has tried to investigate the various stories and recollections about Jesus and to organize them in an orderly way. He wants to pass these on so that his reader may "realize the certainty of the teachings you have received." To follow Jesus, the people must come to know him. They will know him through telling the stories about him.
In this Gospel, Jesus also takes for granted the importance of religious traditions. At the very beginning of his public ministry, during a synagogue service in his home town of Nazareth, he reads from the scroll containing the words of the prophet, Isaiah. A passage speaks of one filled with the Spirit of the Lord and sent by God to proclaim freedom, healing and good news.
Jesus not only recalls the tradition, he takes it a challenging step further. "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." Now has come to pass the hope and expectation that the tradition kept alive. In Jesus, the promises of God spoken through the prophet had come true.
Each generation of the Church is the keeper of the tradition. Each generation must pass on to the next the stories of and about Jesus, the rituals of the sacraments, the understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus accumulated through centuries of the experience, prayer and reflection of believers.
In our day, this responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of family groups, especially parents. It is in the home that attitudes toward God and Jesus, the church and authentic living are formed and strengthened.
Parishes help with Catholic schools, but they educate a relatively small percentage of our children. Parishes help with religious education programs. However, most of these programs amount to about 25 hours a year. Neither of these means anything if what they try to pass on is not part of family life. Children probably spend more time in a week with TV and video games than they do in a year of religious instruction. If Jesus does not mean much to parents, he will certainly not mean much to their children, no matter what parishes try to do.
Jesus took the tradition of his time a step further. Believers today also have to be open to deeper and richer understanding. Here the universal church is the teacher, drawing from its wide experience and the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit to keep exploring the meaning of Jesus and his teaching for today.
Every believer is entrusted with the treasure of our faith, not simply as a personal possession, but as something to be passed on. It is passed on not as a museum collection of stories and customs, but as something alive which gives meaning and direction to each generation.
