20220123 WORD COMES ALIVE IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
23 January, 2022, Sunday, Week 3 in Ordinary Time (Sunday of the Word of God)
First reading |
Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10 © |
All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law
Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose. In full view of all the people – since he stood higher than all the people – Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’ Then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord. And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read.
Then Nehemiah – His Excellency – and Ezra, priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people, said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.
He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 © |
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 12:12-30 © |
You together are Christ's body, but each a different part of it
Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.
Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. If the foot were to say, ‘I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it stopped being part of the body? If the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it was not a part of the body? If your whole body was just one eye, how would you hear anything? If it was just one ear, how would you smell anything?
Instead of that, God put all the separate parts into the body on purpose. If all the parts were the same, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’, nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’
What is more, it is precisely the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones; and it is the least honourable parts of the body that we clothe with the greatest care. So our more improper parts get decorated in a way that our more proper parts do not need. God has arranged the body so that more dignity is given to the parts which are without it, and that there may not be disagreements inside the body, but that each part may be equally concerned for all the others. If one part is hurt, all parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honour, all parts enjoy it.
Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?
Gospel Acclamation | Lk4:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21 © |
'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen'
Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.
Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.
He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’
WORD COMES ALIVE IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Neh 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Cor 12:12-30 (or >< 1 Cor 12:12-14.27); Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21]
The Church dedicates this Sunday to the Word of God. Like the Jews and the Muslims, Christians are known as People of the Book. We share a common reverence for the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God. In today’s first reading Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly. Great reverence was given to the Scriptures. “The Law was placed on a wooden dais and Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered Amen! Amen!; then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord.”
At the square, men, women, and children old enough to understand listened attentively to the Book of the Law which he read from morning till noon. This was because they believed that the Law was the Word of God. As the psalmist says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, they gladden the heart. The command of the Lord is clear, it gives light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is holy, abiding forever. The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.” This is what we do at every Eucharist when we process the gospel and enthrone it before the Mass for all to see. For us, every liturgy is rooted in the Word of God and all the prayers and hymns take inspiration and direction from the Word of God. Having and showing reverence for the Word of God preserves the sacredness of the Word and inspires us to listen attentively with faith.
Indeed, more than ever, we need direction in life today. We are bombarded with so many different views about life. Many of us seek answers from the world through the social media and internet. As a result, we are all confused as to what is true and what is good. Do we want to listen to the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God? In truth, we pay lip service to the Word of God. We hardly read the Word of God and we do not seek direction or inspiration by reading, studying or listening to the Word of God. If we believe that the Bible is truly the Word of God, we would have the same reverence for the Word that is read and proclaimed at Mass and in any service. It is not enough just to listen. The Israelites were moved to tears of repentance, hope and joy when they heard the Word that was read and proclaimed to them. So much so, Nehemiah and Ezra had to console the people, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.”
Most of all, the reading of the Word of God should spur us to do good and to share the joy of the Lord with others. Ezra instructed the people, “Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.” We know that we have listened to the Word of God when we are inspired to do good and are motivated to reach out to others in love and service. Only those who have been touched by the Lord, moved by Him, and filled with His joy, hope and love will move out beyond themselves and share their joy and love with others.
However, we must have the right approach when we are reading the scriptures. We must not take it as if it is book to rationalize or just for information. We must read it from the perspective of faith, believing that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We must invite the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and touch our hearts when we read the Word of God. Only then can the Word of God come alive. Some of us find the Word of God boring and irrelevant, like the eunuch in the carriage in the Acts who read without understanding. We cannot connect with what we read and this is because we tend to rationalize or are just looking for information.
For this reason, the Word of God must be read with the help of the Holy Spirit. That was how Jesus was inspired when He read the Word of God. At His baptism the Spirit descended on Him. He was driven to the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit to prepare Himself for the ministry. Then, “Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He took up the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah to read. “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” Jesus understood that the prophecy of Isaiah referred to His calling and mission. It was the Word of God that gave Jesus the direction for His ministry but it was the Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to respond and act decisively with power.
But the Word of God must also be read within the community of faith. Many Christians fail to realize that the Bible must be read within the Christian tradition. Without the Christian community, no one would ever know which books are truly inspired by the Lord, and which are not inspired. It is the Church that officially recognizes those books as inspired, accepting them as part of the canon of the Bible. For the same reason too, the scriptures must be interpreted within the Christian Tradition for it would be strange to have someone from another religion to interpret the scriptures for us. This explains why different Christian traditions interpret the scriptures quite differently because their traditions and experiences are different.
Interpretation of scriptures is not merely an academic process. It also involves the context, the experience of the Christian community. We all interpret the scriptures based on our experience of the Lord through the tradition we belong. This explains why we do not always agree. For Catholics, we interpret the scriptures in continuity with the long tradition of 2000 years of history and interpretations so that our faith is founded on the faith of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. To suggest that our faith is not scriptural would be contrary because the apostolic faith requires us to go back to the scriptures as interpreted by the Church, the community of faith. This is the reason why we rely on the magisterium, the official interpreter of doctrines to guide us in our beliefs.
In the final analysis, we must preserve the unity of the Body of Christ. This is what St Paul urges us to do. St Paul speaks of the different parts of the Body of Christ. We all have a part to play in the transmission of faith and in the building of the Body of Christ. No one is alone. This is why we cannot read the scriptures subjectively and impose our beliefs on others as if we are the only ones inspired by God. There must be a common discernment on what the Lord is saying to the Church today. There must always be a continuity in doctrines and truths but we will need to consider how we can apply to today’s situation and challenges. This is why in the Synodal process, we invite everyone to come on board, not just to articulate their aspirations, pains and frustrations but to journey together in the context of faith and prayer, searching the will of God together as a community, based on the Word of God. However, in the final analysis, it will be the magisterium, the Holy Father and the bishops who have the authority to teach authoritatively the Word of God as found in the scriptures.
In a special way, it must be noted that this Sunday, which is devoted to the Word of God, also begins the Week for Christian unity. Whilst Catholics, and even many Christians, might not agree on how the Word of God is to be interpreted, yet we all hold great reverence for the Word of God. At least we can meet to pray together and share with one another the Word of God with the intention of inspiring each other to do good, to grow in union with our Lord. May our common love for the Word of God, for the Bible, and through sharing and dialogue, draw us together to appreciate the different Christian traditions and to learn from each other. Through dialogue and communion, we will grow to be more supportive of each other and together, we can proclaim the gospel to all. What matters at the end of the day is that people come to know Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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