The third Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C presents to us a selection from the Gospel of Luke that brings together the cover letter to Theophilus and the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Nazareth. The sections between these two selected passages have been read during Advent, Christmas and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The section on the Temptation of Jesus in the Desert will be read in Lent. The Church offers these two selected passages on the third Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) in order to make us aware of three things:

Luke's account of the Baptism of Jesus is a rewriting of the Marcan account in Mark 1:9-11. What Luke does is to give it an introduction (3:15-20) and to modify it in such a way as to highlight the presentation of Jesus as "the Son, the Beloved." What emerges is an image of Jesus who in anonymity has united himself with those who receive the baptism of repentance and who undergoes a disclosure experience from the Father while in prayer.

Luke 1:39-45 is traditionally called "Mary's Visit to Elizabeth" and is tied up with the Luke 1:46-56, "The Magnificat" through v. 46, the response of Mary to Elizabeth's salutation (vv. 42-45) and v. 56 which concludes the section by telling us of Mary's leaving Elizabeth after three months. Luke 1:39 introduces the narrative, breaking off from 1:38; 1:57 introduces the narrative of the birth of the Baptist.

Luke 2:1-21 can be divided into three episodes. The Christmas liturgy distributes 2:1-15 and 2:16-20 into two masses. Verse 21 is about the circumcision and naming of the new born babe and is marked out from the preceding with the phrase "and when eight days were fulfilled for his circumcision..." just as with verse 22 the account of the presentation begins with the phrase "and when the days of their purification were fulfilled."

Luke 2:22-38 presents the family of Joseph and Mary going to the temple for the presentation of the Lord. In this narrative, two characters are introduced by Luke, Simeon and Anna, people who have been waiting for the redemption of Israel. The voice of Simeon, however, is highlighted. As Zechariah prophesied about his son, so here, it is Simeon -- one of those who have been waiting for the saving action of the Lord -- who pronounces a blessing over Mary's son and a prophecy not only about the child but also about the mother.