How are we formed by the Word of God?
In Nehemiah's time, Ezra
the priest has the people stop what they are doing to listen to him read plainly from the book of the law of God. It is the first time the Torah is heard in
its entirety, and all the people are
weeping to hear their identity described to them in such detail, for before
the restoration, during a period of exile and enslavement, it was easy to lose
any sense of one's identity in God.
Ezra's reading of the Torah helps the people to see how their ancestors
have failed by being unfaithful to covenant, but it also demonstrates the grace
of God's mercy, for God repeatedly reached out to them, calling them back to
relationship. And so they also perhaps
weep for joy at knowing once again what it means to be a people of Israel,
defined by a new law, identifying with a community of believers, experiencing a
connection with one another they have not known previously. Your
words, Lord, are Spirit and life, Psalm 19 reminds us: God's law reminds us that our relationship
with God is an opportunity to access all that is necessary; it offers insight
into our lives and world that is profound and complete.
In Luke's Gospel, Jesus also shares the Word of God with the
people when he stands up in the synagogue to read from the Book of Isaiah. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Jesus and the passage he chooses to read is fulfilled in their midst: the blind are getting to see, and the poor are being lifted up. Because of Jesus' coming, it is a jubilee year, a year of favor from our Lord. Through his proclamation of the Word, as lector, Jesus
is offering the people a new identity and a new unity. As Paul reminds the Corinthians, we were all baptized into one Body, in
union in Christ; we come to Eucharist as part of that Body, as part of a whole,
sharing in one common identity at our core.
Our readings this Sunday thus prompt us to ask: Do we feel connection with one another when
we hear the proclamation of the Word at Mass?
Does that Word form and inform our identity? And do we indeed believe we are Christ's body, so constructed by God to be necessary to the salvation of all?
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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