1.The power of the Word of God is at the heart of the readings in today’s liturgy.
How open, receptive, and welcoming am I to that power and its promise?

The people of Israel gather before a gate into Jerusalem, the Water Gate. They ask Ezra the scribe to bring a copy of the Law, the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Testament, so they can listen to it.

The Torah is all about who they are and who their God is, and what their mutual relationship demands and promises.

Though the people know they have not kept the Law very well, they still have a yearning for it, as they are not happy with their present disconnect with the Law, the Torah. They desire better things and they have an instinctive feeling that to hear God's word will help them do better.

When Ezra opened the scroll they stood up out of respect for the Word of God. And when Ezra in his opening words offered a blessing to the Lord, the people bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. They wept as they listened.

That says it all!

And I am sure their weeping was not just out of sorrow for their infidelity. They realised what a gift they had in the Law. It was the source of their joy and their hope for it was built on the fidelity of God and God’s choice of them. It told them who they were, where they came from, and how they could face the future with hope.

The word Torah is derived from a root that was used in the art of archery. The Torah, one of the words derived from this root, is the arrow aimed at the mark. The target is the truth about God and themselves and how to live that truth.

After the reading, Nehemiah, the governor, plus Ezra, the priest and scribe, tell the people to rejoice, to go home and feast, and in sending them on their way they counsel them to share with the poor who have nothing with which to celebrate.
The responsorial psalm, our chosen response to the first reading, makes reference to the heavens as the glory of God and how the sun in moving from East to West and covering all the earth with its warmth, energy and life, is also a symbol of the glory of the Torah which follows the people across their daily lives and across the span of years with joy, hope, forgiveness and the faithfulness of the God of the Covenant.

I think it is only natural for me to ask myself, how do I mirror that respect and hope in my own presence before the Word of God?

How do I let its challenge and its transforming power to touch me both to disturb and to encourage?

2.The reading from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians speaks of the giftedness that comes to us in our baptism in the one Spirit. We are one in Christ though gifted differently, with some gifts esteemed as more important than others BUT all are needed and help maintain the unity in the Body of Christ.

In his following chapter in this Letter Paul will highlight love as the greatest gift within the community of faith: “I may have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, but without love, I am nothing.” (! Cor. 13:2)

Am I aware of my own of the gifts of the Spirit? And am I truly grateful for these gifts?

What gifts of the Spirit do I pray for so as to be more helpful within my own community of faith and friends?

3. Finally, the Gospel reading from Luke, and the gentle, wise, and reassuring presence of Christ in the synagogue that Sabbath morning, in his own home town.
There was something so reassuring and gracious about him. It put them at ease. They wondered where did it all come from?

He is Joseph’s son, isn’t he, they questioned?

The reading Jesus took from the prophet Isaiah tells them where it all came from and what he was all about: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (LK. 4:18).

Conclusion:

The Christmas Season has passed so quickly and we are now rapidly into the public ministry of Jesus.

These few words from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah read by Jesus in his hometown synagogue will set the tone for all that will follow. Enough is revealed in these words cited by Jesus to indicate the tender regard Jesus has for those he has come to serve and also that his ministry will fulfil the vision of Isaiah the prophet. It will fulfil the Torah.

Fr. Frank Gerry SVD