Today’s readings speak to hearing and responding to the Word of God.  In the first reading, Nehemiah describes the reading of the law to the Jewish people that had recently returned from exile in Babylonia.  Ezra, a priest, read the law to the people and interpreted it so that the people could understand.  The people stood for the reading, then responded “Amen, Amen” and prostrated themselves before the Lord. Skipping to the Gospel passage, we hear of Jesus returning to His hometown and reading in the temple. He read from Isaiah, the passage that described what the   Messiah would do when He came; then He no doubt shocked the listeners by proclaiming that He was, in fact, the Messiah that Isaiah spoke of.

Today’s Gospel passage doesn’t describe how Jesus’ listeners responded to His message, but the psalmist tells us what the proper response was then, and is today, to hearing God’s message.  God’s Word is trustworthy, right, clear, and true; hearing it (and more importantly, living it) brings about wisdom, rejoicing, and enlightenment. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, He became one like us in order to perfectly demonstrate God’s love for us in both word and action. If the entire world fully embraces His message, then we would have the world that Isaiah described.  

Unfortunately, the world has not fully embraced the Word; we needn’t look very far to see evidence of that fact. It is our job as Christians to further the process along, as part of the Body of Christ.  As St. Paul described in his letter to the Corinthians, we all have different parts to play…we were given different talents and abilities. It is up to us, through prayer, to discern what our role is, and to do our part to further God’s kingdom as part of His body.  May we all take time to allow God to speak to us, and point us to where He wants us to go, and what He wants us to do.

Reflection by Parishioner John Ceglarek