The meaning of today’s Liturgy of the Word is the creation of a new people of God. In the First Reading, the priest Ezra – after defeat of Babylon and return of Jews home to Jerusalem from the exile –gathers a liturgical assembly in honor of the dedication of the newly rebuilt Temple in Israel. He reads the law to the people to help them renew the covenant and understand how to live it. The Israelites found their identity in the words of the Law, just as we find it in the Sacred Scripture today, especially in the Gospel. In embracing the Gospel, we seek the wisdom of the Old Testament: God’s Word endures throughout history to guide us and to shape our identity, then in the life of Israel, now in the life of the People of God. Just as in Ezra’s time, we don’t understand Sacred Scripture as individuals. We gather to hear and be helped in understanding the Word of God by our sacred ministers: bishops, priests, and deacons.
In today’s Second Reading, Paul envisions the Church as one great body composed of many members with different functions, strengths, and weaknesses and notes that the Church has certain members of the body that help understand the Word of God. As the Church, we are one body in Christ: through Baptism, we are incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ. It was one Spirit that moved us to believe in Jesus and seek Baptism—the Holy Spirit—and that same Spirit sustains the unity of the Body, like a soul. We became a part of this Body after we not only heard the Word of God, stimulating the faith in our souls, but put our love, faith, and trust in the Word—Jesus—completely, through Baptism making our lives Christian in a way we never could alone. Although we are one Body and have one Spirit in Christ, we don’t all have the same role within the Body, just as the head, the toe, and the heart don’t have the same role in a human body. Thanks to the apostles, the prophets, and the teachers, we are always sure to understand and live the Word of God as He has communicated to us.
As we begin the journey with the Gospel, we are reminded of Luke’s purpose in writing his two-part good news – the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Using his own human gifts and guided by the Holy Spirit he addresses to Theophilus – “God-lover”, that he sought to check and compile all concerning Jesus that had been written or handed down by other “ministers of the word.” Today, we are among those believers, gathered into the Liturgy of the Word, into the presence of Jesus. In today’s Gospel Jesus reads from the prophets but presents something new, something that represents His Incarnation and mission and sheds light on all the Word of God. He has come to fulfill everything promised through the prophets, and to give meaning to the history of salvation lived until that moment.
What we call the Bible today was passed along through oral and written traditions, compiled into books at various moments of salvation history and the Church, aided by the Holy Spirit, established as the canon (rule) of Scripture the books we read and meditate on today. Without God’s Word, we’d soon lose our identity and our way in a world plagued by ignorance, confusion, and evil. Sacred Scripture continues to ensure that we have access to the Word of God, spoken through all of salvation history, and remain united in the Word of God, Jesus Christ. Just like Ezra, Paul, and Jesus Himself, the Lord blesses us with people who conserve and interpret what God has said to us throughout salvation history.
Today, we are reminded of our new creation in relationship with God. “One of the most dangerous mistakes in life is to ignore the moments that invite us to walk down another street. Still, it takes tremendous awareness and courage to embrace a new direction in our lives. It is so easy to sleepwalk through life” (M. Kelly, Life is Messy, p.89).