NEH.8:2-4A5-6,8-10/ 1COR.12:12-30/ LUKE1:1-4;4:14-21
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Fr Galadima Bitrus, (OSA)
THEN HE OPENED THEIR MIND TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES
On 30th September 2019, the Feast of Saint Jerome, Pope Francis on his own initiative (“motu proprio”) issued an apostolic exhortation instituting the annual observance of the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time as “Sunday of the Word of God”. This Apostolic Exhortation is entitled, “Apéruit Illis”, borrowed from the beginning phrase in Latin of Luke 24:45.
When the risen Christ appeared to the disciples while they gathered in Jerusalem listening to the testimony of the two disciples who had encountered him on their way to Emmaus, after Jesus had shown them his risen body, he ate in their presence (shared in their Eucharistic meal) and “Then he opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (in Latin: “Tunc apéruit illis sensum, ut intellígerent Scriptúras”).
On this Sunday, therefore, we are exhorted as Christian communities to do something special to mark the importance of the word of God in the life of believers, that Christ may open our minds to better understand it.
The 1st Reading (Neh 8:2-10) presents a liturgical setting for the reading and interpretation of the Word of God. The scribe and priest, Ezra brings the Torah scroll before the assembly or congregation (Hb, “Qālâ”) which consisted of men, women and all who could listen with understanding. He climbs an elevated place made of wood, accompanied by men to his right and to his left (probably attendants, as we will see in the Gospel). High or elevated places (e.g., mountains) are often presented in the Bible as places of encounter with God, hence, pulpits and altars are usually elevated areas of our Church buildings.
The congregation stood as the Torah was being read, and then translated and explained from the break of the day to midday, so the people could understand what was being read. As they listened, the people wept but were exhorted to rather rejoice since it was a holy day to the Lord God.
Clearly, therefore, there is such a thing as a special day dedicated to the Lord, hence, a Holy Day. That day is marked by an intense study of the Word of God. The Bible is studied in a process that involves translation and interpretation, and that certainly requires spending quality time with the Word, not some quick use of remnant time, but dedicated time. The priest reading and interpreting the Torah was in fact not only a priest but also a scribe, a scholar so to speak (cf. Neh 8:1.2.4.9). As Christians, we can make a better use of the Holy Day of the Lord by dedicating it also to studying his Word, to open our minds and enlighten our ways.
The 2nd Reading (1 Cor 12:12-30) portrays the beauty of diversity and the dignity of difference within the Christian community, using the analogy of the body as being one, although having many parts, hence, the characterization of the Christian community or the Church as “the body of Christ”. The passage is a continuation of Paul’s discourse on the common origin of our diverse gifts and their common destiny which runs through the entire chapter 12 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
The first part of the chapter (1 Cor 12:1-11) focuses on the diversity of gifts, functions and activities and their common origin in the Holy Spirit who inspires them and God who permits them, as well as their common destiny of service to the same Lord and the good of the community. The second part (1 Cor 12:12-30) focuses on the diversity of membership of the Christian community: some being ethnically Jews and others Greeks, some socially slaves and others freeborn. This diversity is harmonized in one baptism in Christ through one and the same Holy Spirit (vv. 12-14).
The passage also shows the necessary interdependence and mutual need of the various parts of the body, such that the suffering of one has consequences for the body as a whole, hence, the need for the various members of the body to be one another’s keeper (vv. 15-26). The chapter concludes with a passage that interprets this analogy (vv. 28: “Now, you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (vv. 27-31).
In ancient Greco-Roman society, bodies of different social ranks were valued according to hierarchy. With the metaphor of being different members of one and the same body, Paul challenges and subverts this mentality. The usage of the analogy of the body to describe a people is also found in Isa 1:5-6 where Israel is described in terms of a people of whom “every head is ailing and every heart is sick; from head to foot no spot is sound, all bruises and welts and festering sores”.
Also, the communion between Jews and Gentiles, while emphasized by Paul, is not entirely new. Isa 56:6-7 speaks of a time when the Lord God of Israel will bring to his sacred mountain, foreigners who attach themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love him and to serve him, all who keep the sabbath and hold fast to the Lord’s covenant.
In the last analysis, the 2nd Reading invites us to appreciate how beautifully different we are, yet inseparably interconnected and interdependent, hence, the need to work harder towards perfecting that harmony that brings together different voices or tongues to form a melodious symphony, rather than aiming at a uniformity that cancels all distinctiveness and uniqueness, ending up with one colourless and boring solo voice.
In the Gospel (Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21), we read the prologue to the Gospel of St. Luke together with Luke’s account of the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry. The prologue (Lk 1:1-4) presents the objective of the author of Luke’s gospel to provide a comprehensive and orderly account of the life and activities of Jesus.
Effectively, Luke displays a high level of intellectual honesty, confessing not to be a direct witness and making clear that his gospel is not even one of the earliest documentations of the life of Jesus. Rather, he places himself at the third level of transmission of the life and teachings of Christ, the accounts of eye witnesses being the first, then the earlier compilations before his own, and finally, the more comprehensive and orderly account that he himself undertook to write. This information provided by Luke is at the basis of the understanding that the three synoptic Gospels in general (Mathew, Mark and Luke) comprise of collections of earlier compilations of writings on the activities of Jesus, of various lengths and contents and belonging to various literary genres.
The second part of the gospel reading (Lk 4:14-21) presents the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, after the accounts of his birth, baptism and temptation (Lk 1:5-4:13). Jesus had just returned from the Judean region to his home region, Galilee. In his hometown of Nazareth he entered the Synagogue where the people were gathered to study the Word of God, as was the custom on the Sabbath day.
Like Ezra in the first reading, Jesus stood up to read and thereafter, gave the scroll to the attendant, sat down and after some moment of silence, instead of explaining as people expected, he simply pointed to himself as the explanation: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears” (Lk 4:21). Put a bit more clearly, “Today this Scripture is being fulfilled as you are hearing.”
Thus, Jesus becomes the new key or the new hermeneutical formula for interpreting Scripture. Simply put, to understand Scripture, one needs to just look at Jesus, with his life characterized by what Scripture says about God’s anointed, one who is possessed by the Spirit of the Lord: such a one brings good news to the poor, declares liberty to the captive, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed and proclaims the era of the Lord’s grace. This approach of reading Scripture in the light of Christ is what scholars will later come to call a “Christological Reading” of Scripture.
As we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, may we come to discover the value of studying the Word of God attentively and come to that Christ-like intimacy with it as to be able to point to our life as the clearest commentary or explanation of the Word of God that we read and proclaim in our assemblies and Churches. Amen!
Fr. Paul Oredipe
CHRIST’S MISSION: OUR MISSION
Your Word is a Lamp for my Steps and a Light for my Path
We decide how to nourish our minds, how to feed our minds by choosing what to read and watch, and we decide how to protect our minds by not reading or watching what does not uplift us.
What would feed our minds and uplift our minds most of all? The Bible, because it is the Word of God. The first reading of today shows how people’s neglect of God’s word led them into captivity. That is why (in our first reading of today) Ezra the priest read the Law, an excerpt of the Old Testament, to the Jews in Jerusalem and why in our Gospel Jesus read from the Scriptures in the synagogue in Nazareth.
The reading narrates their return from Babylonia captivity. Ezra, the priest, explained to the people the content of the Sacred Book that they have forgotten during the years spent in the exile. The reading reminded them of the goodness of God and how they have been unfaithful to Him. All the people wept when the Sacred Law was read to them because their previous neglect of the Sacred Law led them into captivity.
Do we too allow the things of this world to distract us from the reading the Word of God? Do we take pain to study our Scriptures? It would be very difficult to love Christ, to get to know Him really well, if we did not frequently read and meditate on the Word of God. Do we know and appreciate our Catholic doctrines? Anybody who does not know his religious doctrine is in exile just like the people of Israel in the land of Babylon. Every Catholic is called today to deepen his or her faith by once more coming together to learn what we have seemed to have forgotten.
Today, many Catholics are no more comfortable with solemn liturgical celebrations, all we want is to be like others. Sacramental confession has become the thing of old for some Catholics. We are no more at home with long period of Catechism class. We forget our identity and heritage like the Israelites who demanded for a king in order to be like other nations. Protestantism and materialism have poisoned our faith. We need to purify it through doctrinal formation.
That is why we read Sacred Scripture every time we assemble here for Mass or some other liturgy. That is why we are encouraged to read our Bibles at home every day. The Bible is the Word of God and is therefore the most nourishing food for our mind each day.
Thanks be to God, the recalling of the Jews from Babylon was part of God’s remote preparation for the coming of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, on earth. And today’s Gospel reading shows Christ making a statement of His mission. His mission was to liberate people from all forms of oppression: physical, spiritual, marital, mental, financial, psychological, etc.
This Gospel passage of today is a summary of what Jesus has come to do, and it is also a reminder of what we are to do as followers of Christ. Christ’s mission statement is very clear. It is to bring good news to the poor. The good news that even if they are poor, they are loved by God, they are truly His children. Do we bring good news to the people around us?
The newspapers today give the impression that “good news is no news”, because they only publish bad news. Perhaps we behave like that also. We prefer to gossip about the bad things some people do, rather than speak about the good things they do. Let us be bearers of good news, not gossip.
In fact, the Bible is so important that the Church tells us that Jesus is just as present in Bible (holding up Bible) as in the Eucharist (pointing to Tabernacle). That may come as a shock for some of you because we are not used to thinking of the presence of Jesus in that way.
Another very important aspect of Christ’s mission, according to the Gospel reading of today, is to proclaim liberty to the captives. Christ does this especially by forgiving sins, and also by preaching against unjust rulers and systems which often imprison people. Thank God we are not in prison, but perhaps we are captives to sin or bad habits. Some people are captives to drink or drugs or sexual immorality. Jesus came to set us free, and one way He does so is by forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.
Another major way Christ liberates people is through enlightening them with God’s word. This is the most important way of liberating people because only the truth of God’s word can set us free. Let us too, be instruments of evangelization wherever we find ourselves.
Jesus also came to give sight to the blind. We need to know that the faculty of seeing is concerned not only with the body, but above all with the spirit. So one may not be physically blind but blind spiritually.
Really, our faith makes is very simple. When we live our life according to God’s word and God’s promise, when we live our life in God’s presence, when we try to know, love and serve God in this world, we will truly be happy with Him here on earth, and happier forever with Him in heaven.
The second reading reminds us of what we already know, or should know, that the Church is the Body of Christ and we are its members. We all have a vocation. And that vocation should be lived with integrity, as the Word of God asks us to do.
As Saint Paul says, there is no vocation that is greater or lesser than the others. All are of equal importance. If God has given to some people the vocation to marriage, they should live that vocation well, just as those who have been given the vocation to the priesthood or the deaconate. Saint Paul also explains to the Christian community in Corinth that each ministry in the community should be carried out for the good of all, of the members of the community.
The Second Reading teaches us that the Corinthians had already started to form exclusive groups, thinking only of ways to make their group the most numerous or the most important. They did not understand that the Church is the Body of Christ and that the Church has to grow and be strengthened through the cooperation of each of its members. That is what is really important.
We also hear the Word of God by reading the Bible in our own homes. I began by asking questions about what way we nourish our minds. Try to nourish your mind every day by feeding it with Sacred Scripture for at least a few minutes. As part of your family prayer together every day why not read a short passage from the Gospels and think about what it means for you. Open your Bible and light a candle beside it as a sign of the presence of Jesus in the Scriptures. Keep your Bible in a prominent place in your home so that you will see it every day and be reminded to read it.
Saint Gregory says “The Bible is a love letter sent by God to His people in which we can perceive the heart of God.” Read and listen to God’s love letter to you every day. Saint Jerome said, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” The Word of God in the Bible brings us healing and helps us cope with life’s problems. We may not find an answer to every problem, but it will certainly broaden our vision.
It is no wonder that Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path.”
And our response to Psalm 19 today is “Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.”
“The Bible is a love letter sent by God to His people in which we can perceive the heart of God.” “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” “You receive the body of the Lord with special care and reverence lest the smallest crumb of the consecrated gift fall to the floor. You should receive the word of God with equal care and reverence lest the smallest word of it fall to the floor and be lost.”
Above all dear friends, we have to love God and love our Church, love the Church with every fiber of your being; love the Church as the martyrs did; love the Church as Christ Jesus did. Such a love will empower us to maintain her oneness. Such a love shall enable us to value its many gifts.
Let us nourish and feed our minds every day on the Bible, God’s love letter to us.
May this year be a year of favour for all of us. Amen.
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
Celebrating the Word of God
On September 30, 2019, on the liturgical memorial of St. Jerome, Pope Francis announced that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time would be celebrated as the Sunday of the Word of God. Today is the third Sunday in ordinary time and it the third year of this celebration. And so, our reflection shall be based on the word of God.
In today’s gospel, Luke says he wants to give an orderly account even though others have written much about Christ in the different gospels. It means that we should not rely solely on what others have written; we ought to long for personal reflection and meditation. One essential aspect of Christian maturity is reflection and meditation on God’s word. A good Christian must learn to reflect to deepen his or her faith. Now, when you reflect ensure you write down because inspirations are always given. If you don’t write down your inspirations you may weaken your aspirations. Verses 16 to 21 of today’s gospel illustrated how Jesus read the Bible. Jesus was conversant with the Word we too should be conversant with it. Therefore, studying the Bible is good for Christian maturity and authentic witnessing. It is not enough to possess a Bible, study it. Hebrews 4:12 says; the word of God is living and active. When you possess and activate God’s word, then it becomes spirit and laugh.
The gospel says “and he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him” (Luke 4:20). They fixed their eyes on Jesus. Are your eyes fixed on Jesus? Some are busy looking at Ankara and Gele, weighing Necklaces and others wears. Beloved, fix your eyes on Jesus. The Bible says they looked up to him and they were radiant. Today’s distractions are countless; but if you are willing to be focused you can be. To fix your eyes on Jesus is to sit down and study the word of God. None of us have travelled to heaven before therefore we need to fix our eyes on Jesus not to miss the direction.
Ezra the priest read to them the Law of Moses and instructed them about the law. The people listened with attention and respect. Let us learn to listen to God’s word with utmost attention and reverence. When it is read please listen. If you don’t listen you will be missing. Listening helps us to meditate. A man who can’t listen can’t meditate and if you can’t mediate you will give disorder account about things. To give disorder account is to bear false witness. That is why Luke says in today’s gospel having followed all things closely for some time I have decided to write an orderly account. In other words, Luke is saying; having listened attentively I can now bear true witness. Beloved in Christ if you don’t listen before you talk you will say rubbish.
Again, we need to listen with respect. The word of God should be respected, a Christian should not begin to use the word of God to play and crack jokes like comedians. It should cause some level of discomfort that the Word of God is being disrespected. The Church has great respect for the Word of God that is why it is solemnly celebrated with all the reverential gestures and sacred fears. It shows this respect in the position of the lecterns, gestures of the servers and readers, the use of incense and the standing gestures. All these things are not mere drama but they are endowed with spiritual significance.
LET US PRAY
Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
