III Sunday C – Contemplation Of The Word Of God
Readings: Ne 8:2-4,5-6,8-10; 1 Cor 12:12-31; Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Word of God, marvelous “dabar” that determines the deep meaning of all existence (Gen. 2:19-20); unchanging Word (Isa. 31:2; Mt. 5:18); powerful Word, (Isa. 55:10-11); Word “perfect, that refreshes the soul,… make the heart rejoice, give light to the eyes,…. endures forever,…, more precious than gold” (today’s Responsorial Sl: Sl 18); Word ‘who are our life’ (Deut. 32:47), ‘lamp to our steps and light to our path’ (Sl 119:105); ‘sharp sword’ (Wis. 18:14-15), ”penetrating to the dividing point of the soul. …, scrutinizing the feelings and thoughts of the heart” (Heb 4:12); discreet seed that grows by itself, whether we sleep or wake (Mk 4:26-29; Ac 19:20), and that also produces the hundredfold (Mk 4:8)…
Word to be proclaimed to all (First Reading: Ne 8:2f), in continual prayer (v. 3), blessing God and invoking His Spirit (v. 6), to be “worshipped with our faces to the ground” (v. 6), to be translated and explained for all to understand (v. 8), the source of weeping (v. 9) and irrepressible joy (v. 9), the source of celebration (v. 10), always prompting us to share with the poor (v. 10). Word to be received in the Spirit, the only Inspirer (2 Tim. 3:16), the only Teacher and Exegete (Jn. 14:26), the only sure Guide (Jn. 16:13); Word in whose expectation to be consumed (Sl 119:81), and to be contemplated in silence (Wis. 18:14; Mt. 14:23; Lk. 9:18), in the secret of one’s room (Mt. 6:6); Word to be assiduous to (Mt. 13:52; Lk. 21:36), “in the middle of the night” (Sl 119:62. 147-148)), “seven times a day” (Sl 119:164), “all day long” (Sl 119:97). Word to be treasured and pondered in one’s heart (Sl 119:9,11; Lk 2:19,51). Word to be “ruminated” unceasingly, wisely seizing its taste (Wisdom is from “sàpere,” “having taste”…), “sweeter than honey” (Sl 19:11; 119:103). Word to pray, singing and blessing, worship and thanksgiving (Lk 1:46-55. 68-79; 2:29-32). Word to contemplate (Wis 6:12; Ex 24:29; Ct 4:1-16…). Word to be obeyed (Ex 19:8; Lk 1:38), “and not just to be listened to, deluding ourselves” (Jas 1:22), and which always ripens fruit in us if we are not superficial like the road that does not welcome the seed, if we root it in prayer so as not to be like stones, if we do not smother it among the thorns “of the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth” (Mk 4:14-20). Word that draws to the service of the poor and the least (Lk 1:39), and which concretely proclaims to them “a glad message” (Lk 4:18: Gospel). Word whose practice is bliss (Lk 8:21; 11:28), perfection of God’s love (1 Jn 2:5). Word which sends us out to the world, to all nations (Mt 28:19-20; Rom 10:14-15), which makes us its “witnesses and ministers” (Lk 1:2: Gospel; Acts 26:16), its servants (Acts 6:4), and which makes us into one body, indeed, your own Body (Second Reading: 1 Cor 12:12-31).
Word you are, O Jesus, the very Word of God who “became flesh and pitched his tent among us” (Jn. 1:1, 14), the ultimate and final Word of the Father (Heb. 1:1-2). You alone reveal to us the heart of God (Jn 14:9-10; 17:14). You are the only Word that has authority (“exousìa”: Mk 1:22, 27) and power (“dynamis”: Mk 4:35-66). You are the fulfillment of all the Word of the prophets (Lk 4:21: Gospel): and at the same time “there is nothing in Scripture that does not make You resound” (St. Augustine); for “the Scriptures are You” (Irenaeus of Lyon). Therefore “we eat Your flesh and blood in the Eucharist, but also in Scripture” (St. Jerome). That is why your Church “has always venerated the Divine Scriptures as it did your own Body…. ‘For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of You’ (St. Jerome)” (Dei Verbum, nn. 21.25).
Lord, let us welcome and cherish Scripture in our lives, lest we be condemned, as “those who … reject your Words” (Jn. 12:47-48). For “You alone, Lord, have words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68)!