Every third Sunday in Ordinary Time is now called Word of God Sundaywhich is an initiative of Pope Francis to help us value the Bible more highly. Today's readings help us to reflect on this.
The first reading is set in this context of listening to the Word of God. The Israelites had returned to the Promised Land after spending years in exile, in a pagan land without access to God's law. The scribe Ezra took the sacred scrolls and gathered the people to listen to them. The people stood outside listening to the scribes read and explain the law to them from early morning until noon.
Imagine: a homily from first thing in the morning until noon, that is, for about five or six hours. And we are told that the people were so happy that they wept with emotion. A long sermon today could make us weep with anguish!
But it might help us to consider how blessed we are to have God's Word in the Bible and in the teachings of the Church. The Bible is like God's love letter to us, or a whole series of letters written over more than 1000 years. How wonderful that God is willing to speak to us! Each book of the Bible is so different. Each one responds to its time and context. God speaks to us at different times, according to our needs. Sometimes the book rebukes the people when they have been unfaithful and calls them to repentance. Sometimes God seems angry and disappointed. But very soon God forgives and tries to comfort. Sometimes the Bible shows God as tough, because the people needed him: what we might call tough love.
Today's Gospel shows us Jesus interpreting the Old Testament and doing what we should always do: appreciating its message for us in our day. "And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled, which you have just heard,'" he said.". He took a text from the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me....". This applies primarily to Jesus, but in him we are all anointed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. Whenever we read the word of God in Scripture, particularly its fullness in the New Testament, we need to think: this is being fulfilled in my life today.
"The whole synagogue had its eyes fixed on him.". And ours too. Our eyes should be fixed on Christ's actions at Mass and our ears on his words.
