OT III Neh 8: 2-4, 5-6, 8-10; Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21

In today's Readings the Church reminds us of one extremely effective way to pour God's grace into our hearts: daily Bible reading. Both today’s first reading, taken from Nehemiah, and Luke’s Gospel, describe the public reading of Sacred Scripture which challenged the hearers to make a "fresh beginning" with a new outlook. 

After defeating Babylon, King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the exiled Jews, who had spent seven decades of exile in Babylon, could return home to Jerusalem.  The king appointed Nehamiah as the governor to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, which lay in ruins following the exile. The spirits of the people also needed rebuilding, so Ezra, the priest, dusts off the neglected scrolls of the law, and calls all the people together, even children who are old enough to understand. From morning till midday, Ezra reads to them the Law. Most had neglected its precepts for years. As they hear it read and explained by Ezra, they begin to weep tears of joy and of sorrow.

They came to realize the many ways in which they had failed to keep God’s Commandments. Hence, with tears of repentance in their eyes and joy in their hearts, the people responded with a great "Amen.

In the gospel we see Jesus goes into the synagogue and reads the scripture for others. The Jews had only one main Temple, located in Jerusalem, for offering sacrifices to God and for celebrating the major feasts.  Throughout the rest of the country, however, there were synagogues, one for every ten families or more, where the community, particularly the men, could offer Sabbath prayers and study the Scriptures.  It was customary for the men to sit in the central part of the synagogue, where the scrolls were kept.  The women and children sat in a separate area on the side of the synagogue.  It was the Jewish custom for the reader to stand while reading, and to sit down while teaching (Mt 13:54; Mk 6:1). The synagogue liturgy was based on seven readings. The first four were from the Law (the Torah or the Pentateuch) followed by explanations given by the rabbi, who was the teacher of the Law. The second set of readings, taken from the prophets, could be read and interpreted by any circumcised male over thirty years of age.  It was in this second capacity that Jesus read and preached on the passage from Isaiah (61: 1-2a).  Naturally, the people of his native place were curious to hear from this carpenter-turned-prophet who had grown up among them, and who, supposedly, had worked miracles throughout Galilee.  Luke reports that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," Jesus said, “because He has anointed me…” This “power of the Spirit" was absolutely essential in order for Jesus to complete his mission. Jesus’ mission would be to give liberation to everyone who would listen to his “Good News,” accept it and put it into practice.

The Word of God is called "sacramental,” in the sense that when it is spoken, read or heard, God becomes present in our midst. For that to happen to us, we must listen to the Word, accept it into our hearts, and then put it into practice as we live out our lives.

Christianity is not a religion of the book (as is often said) as Islam is, but of a person, the living person of Jesus who comes to us in word and in sacrament and also in the poor, the imprisoned, the hungry and the naked, the broken hearted and the lost. 

The Christian liturgy as made up of word and sacrament but it is really made up of three parts: word, sacrament and the ongoing Christian life of works of mercy which are to flow out of our worship and lead us back to it. Pope Benedict in his encyclical on Charity taught that Christianity can no more give up works of mercy than it can give up the sacraments or the Scriptures. None of the three are optional.

The Bible is a unique book, written by human authors but inspired by God himself. If we take time to read, study, and reflect on it each day, our souls will be filled with "Spirit and life," as today's Psalm reminds us. And in the digital age there is no excuse not to do this. It is so easy to get a hold of a Bible, and it is so easy to find study guides and other resources that can help us understand its message.

The Sanford Hotel in San Francisco reports that it never lost a single Bible in the 15 years it placed them at the bedside as a service to the guests. But, in one month after it started putting dictionaries in the rooms as well, 41 dictionaries disappeared. Now, I don't know whether we can draw a solid conclusion from that, but on the surface, it seems obvious that people apparently place a greater value on human words than they do the Word of God.

The Bible is God's love letter to each and every one of us. It is a flowing fountain of wisdom, comfort, guidance, and strength. As we continue with this Mass, let's renew our faith in the Word of God, and resolve to take at least a little drink from its fountain every single day.