Reflection:
Actually, all the readings for 27 January 2013 are about the Word — the importance of listening carefully to the Word that, as we open ourselves to the truth, God may reveal Himself more and more to us, and by His grace, convince us that Jesus is truly the Promised Messiah.

Faith, after all, is a God-given grace and God promises that He reveals Himself to those who seek Him.

To better understand the Sunday readings, we first situate ourselves in the time of King Nehemiah and Ezra, the priest-scribe.  Fr. Fernando Armellini of the Sacred Heart Congregation, a graduate of the Biblical Institute of Rome, brings us “back in time” to appreciate the readings.  It has been about a hundred years since the Israelites returned from their Babylonian exile, yet they are still unable to organize themselves fully — everybody seems to go about his own way; crime is rampant, and the poor are exploited.  Nehemiah asks Ezra to determine the cause.  Ezra tries to identify the reasons for the widespread disorder and immediately realizes that failure to follow the law is at the root of such evil.  So on New Year’s Day (in the Jewish calendar), Ezra brings the Book of the Law before the assembly of men, women and children old enough to understand, and begins to read from dawn till noon.  No one stays home or makes excuses to see to his personal affairs.  Everyone goes out to listen to the Word.  (Our Sunday mass takes only about an hour and yet we hear many excuses from so many why they are unable to attend.)

You will note that Ezra goes to great lengths to put the “service” in good order, down to the last detail: there is the elevated wooden dais or lectern – Ezra makes sure that he can be seen by all as he reads – then he opens the Book with devotion and the people stand up to show their veneration; Ezra proclaims the blessing and everyone answers “Amen! Amen!” bowing and prostrating themselves.  (Thus, it is important that the animators of the Word take pains to prepare properly for each assignment to read and for homilists to diligently prepare relevant and practical applications of the Word in the life of the community).  Ezra himself gives a moving homily that brings the people to self-examination and conviction that they had not kept the law of God.  Similarly, every proclamation of the Word must always seek the conversion of hearts.

St. Paul in the second reading speaks about order in society, particularly in relationships.  He uses the parts of the body working together for the benefit of the whole person as an analogy to encourage everyone to work together for the good of community, especially protecting the weakest parts but every part of equal importance.  In the last part of Paul’s reading, we see a kind of classification of charisms.  And surprisingly, the charism of “guidance” or administration, which is governance, and something we would normally set as first priority, is the listed as the last charism, just before the “varieties of tongues.”  If we read carefully, the proclamation of the Word comes first of the top three “responsibilities” in community: apostles, prophets and teachers.  In our community, which do we prioritize?

Finally, Luke in his Gospel prologue assures us that what he is about to relate are not dreams, philosophical teachings or mysterious revelations.  They are not invented stories or tall tales passed on by travelling merchants, but eyewitness accounts of people, apostles dedicated to proclaiming the Word and willing even to put their life on the line for the Word.

The second part is about Jesus being called one Sabbath to read the Word in the synagogue.  In a Jewish synagogue, the liturgy consists of reading first from the Book of the Law (the first five books of the Bible) then a second reading from the prophets.  The president of the synagogue customarily invites an adult male to read and comment.  Notice that when Jesus is asked to read, at the end of the reading, He rolls back the scroll and hands it back to the server, before sitting down.  All eyes are on Him.  One who sits down to instruct others – in this case, Jesus – is considered a teacher, a master, a rabbi.  The focus of everyone must be on him.  All Old Testament books lead up to the Promised Messiah.  Once this has been achieved, the scroll is rolled up.  Since the person picked to read the second reading can choose the text he wants, Jesus selects the verses from Isaiah that says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me, to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  Jesus then comments: “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  That is all that needs to be said.  The people have heard Him teach many times.  They have witnessed His miracles.  And so the scroll can be rolled up.  The Old Testament reading has led to the Promised Messiah.

Jesus’ comment brings a deep, abiding joy to our heart.  All homilies must lead to a comforting, joyful feeling in the hearts of the faithful.

The theme for this week reads: We are the light of the New Evangelization when we accept and live out our covenant with God.  In the light of the readings, what is our covenant with God?  It is quite simply the proclamation of His Word.  And we must do it with zeal and purpose, with reverence and devotion, and our proclamation must lead to the comfort and joy of those who listen because the Promise is: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.” (Ps 19:8)

Reflection Questions:
1.Do we take pains to proclaim the Word to others, not simply sharing a personal experience,
and perhaps by accident at that?  Have we refreshed anyone with our proclamation?
2.Have we been instrumental in a person’s gaining wisdom from the Word he has heard from us?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
January 27, 2013 (Sun)    Neh 8:2-6,8-10/Ps 19:8-10,15/1Cor 12:12-30/
Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
January 28, 2013 (Mon)    Heb 9:15,24-28/Ps 98:1-6/Mk 3:22-30
January 29, 2013 (Tues)   Heb 10:1-10/Ps 40:2,4,7,8,10,11/Mk 3:31-35
January 30, 2013 (Wed)   Heb 10:11-18/Ps 110:1-4/Mk 4:1-20
January 31, 2013 (Thur)   Heb 10:19-25/Ps 24:1-6/Mk 4:21-25
February 1, 2013 (Fri)      Heb 10:32-39/Ps 37:3-6,23,24,39,40/Mk 4:26-34
February 2, 2013 (Sat)     Mal 3:1-4/Ps 24:7-10/Heb 2:14-18/LK 2:22-40 or 2:22-32

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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