Word of the Week

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fulfilled: Pleroo (Gk.): meaning, “to make full, to fill up to the brim; bring to realization”, or to “render complete in every particular, to make perfect”. This word also addresses the fulfillment of prophecy and law to cause God’s will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets).

Christ is the new covenant fulfilling all of Sacred Scripture: the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (CCC, 2763). Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in Christ Jesus because it communicates the Word of God in letter (cf. CCC, 134). So revealing the law’s goodness in his perfection “Jesus did not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf. Mt 5:17-19)… and redeemed the transgressions against it” (cf. Heb 9:15) (CCC, 592). The CCC reminds us that Christ’s fulfillment does not wrap up the discussion of the plan of redemption for humanity: “The fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost” (1287). Ultimately Christ’s fulfillment rests in his doing the will of the Father (CCC, 2824).

Pleroo can be found ninety-times in the New Testament with Luke using it twenty-six times, ten in his gospel and sixteen times in Acts. As author of the early life of the Church in her narrative story, Luke certainly wanted to communicate Christ as the full realization of all salvation history (Lk.1:20, 24:44), but what does his being the full realization of all things actually mean? Let us take a closer look at the context to which we find the words from Christ: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk.4:21).

The aforementioned words come within the context of Christ’s rejection of Nazareth when Jesus reads in the synagogue that his reading is “to proclaim the acceptable year of our Lord” (Lk.4:20). This oracle reflects the teaching of Leviticus 25, which explained the nature of the jubilee year. The jubilee year of fifty years “signaled the cancellation of all debts and required property and slaves to be returned to their original family owners. Isaiah projects this jubilee celebration in the future when God will come to release Israel from its slaves (idols) and debt (guilt)” (Hahn and Minch, 28). Furthermore, Luke certainly points to the manner in which this would take place: suffering at the hand of the San Hedrin (cf. Lk.21:22, Acts 1:16, 3:18, 9:23, 13:27).

This Third Sunday in Ordinary Time puts into focus how Christ fulfills the Father’s plan and how we are called to participate in this eternal design. The path is clear--imitation by way of intimation. Imitation of Christ can only take place if we are sharing in the suffering of Christ, and for this reason, imitation of Christ is rooted in the call to know him, be intimate with him. Essentially, rooted in a filial relationship with Christ, our vocation receives its full measure when we pour ourselves out for the sake of the body of Christ (cf. Col.1:24; 1 Pet.4:13).  In other words, fulfillment by way of participation.

 

“It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption…human sufferings, united to the redemptive suffering of Christ, constitute a special support for the powers of good, and open the way to the victory of these salvific powers.”

John Paul II

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
•  Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco : Ignatius Press, 2003.

The Catholic Hour Home Page
Comments or Questions?
Contact Webmaster