Ezra reading the law to the people of Israel

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enought to understand. Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listend attentively to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. He opened the scrool so that all the people might see it – for he was standing higher up than any of the people -; and, as he opened it, all the people rose. Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground. Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read. Then Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep – for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have hand them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accuratelty anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received. … Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today is Word of God Sunday. Established by Pope Francis in 2019, the idea is to set aside one Sunday a year to consider and reflect on the impact of Sacred Scripture on our lives. Today’s readings are especially appropriate for that theme.

In the first reading, we have the priest Ezra reading the law to the people gathered. This event occurred after the return of the Jews to Palestine and Jerusalem from what is called the Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity.

In 597 BC, the Chaldean Empire conquered Jerusalem and sent many Jews into exile in Babylon. The Jews remained in Babylon until 538, when the Persian Empire overthrew the Chaldeans, and Cyrus I of Persia decreed that the Jews could return to their homeland. When the Jews returned to their homeland, Ezra became a key figure in what is called the Restoration.

In our First Reading, we have Ezra, the priest and scribe, reading the law of Moses to them – the Torah. When Ezra, who had been born in Babylon but desired to go to Jerusalem, arrived in Jerusalem, he found that the faith of the Jewish people was poor, for they had assimilated themselves with the non-Jewish people of the land, marrying their women and adopting their gods.

It was Ezra’s motive to return the people to faith in and worship of the true God and to the practice of the law of Moses in the Torah, which consist of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This was the law that Ezra read to the people, who responded by rededicating themselves to the faith and Scriptural traditions of their ancestors.

This is how the Word of God impacted the Jewish people when Ezra read it to them – they returned to faith in the one, true God and to the practice of the law of Moses as given to them in the Torah. This is why Nehemiah tells the people not to be saddened. The people had been sad and were weeping because of their infidelity to God. But Nehemiah instructed them: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, … ; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

It was not to be a day of weeping, but of rejoicing, for the people had returned to faith in God and rededicated themselves to following His law. Indeed, the Word of God read to them by Ezra turned their hearts back to the LORD and to His law. This was the great impact of the Word of God on the Jewish people who had returned to Jerusalem after the Exile.

The Word of God is celebrated in today’s psalm, which declares: “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.” Indeed, “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.” The Word of God can be counted on to steer us to righteousness, to give us Spirit and life.

In today’s Gospel, Luke explains to us why he wrote his Gospel. Theophilus has received from eyewitnesses and others an account of the life of Jesus. Wishing to encourage certainty about the teachings Theophilus has received about Jesus, Luke undertakes to write yet another narrative, supported by his own investigation, of Jesus’ life. Here we see the impact of the Word of God on Theophilus and those who have received an account of Jesus’ life and teachings. Luke’s Gospel is regarded by the Church as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can read Luke’s Gospel with confidence that what he has written is what God desires us to know about Jesus for the sake of our salvation.

One of those events in the life of Jesus that Luke records is His going to the synagogue in Nazareth, where He grew up, and reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Luke tells us: “He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, ‘Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.’”

Imagine the impact of that word on the people in the synagogue that day. Jesus is declaring Himself the anointed of God. Jesus is declaring Himself a prophet in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha, who were anointed by the Lord to speak His word to the people. Of course, another word for the anointed of God is Messiah! The text from the prophet Isaiah speaks of when the Messiah will come to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. In other words, to turn the world upside down with God’s grace that breaks the chains of slavery to sin and declares us righteous before God and heirs to the kingdom.

The “year acceptable to the Lord” referred to the practice of the Jubilee year, when all were freed from their debts. Through Jesus, we are free from out debt to sin, and Pope Francis has declared this year a year of Jubilee, one in which the Holy Father calls us to join all others in the Church on a Pilgrimage of Hope – hope for a future free from sin and dedicated to the Lord.

As did the Jews who gathered around Ezra and heard him read the Torah, let’s take advantage of this Jubilee year to re-dedicate ourselves to the Lord and to His teaching. To dedicate ourselves to living the life of the Gospel as revealed to us through His Sacred Scriptures.

The purpose of Word of God Sunday is to reflect on and consider the impact of the Word of God in our lives. We see examples of this in Ezra reading the Word of God to the people in Jerusalem, and of Jesus reading the Word of God to the people gathered in the synagogue in Nazareth, and declaring that Word fulfilled. But the Scriptures cannot impact our lives if we are not reading them, reflecting on them, praying over them.

There are many ways we can do this. We can read the readings for the Mass of each day. You can actually sign up to receive the readings for each day in an email from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, or you can google “Catholic daily readings”, and it will bring you to the website for the USCCB where the daily readings are available. Or you can purchase a missal, where the readings for the Mass of each day are published. Or you can listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz’ Bible in a Year podcast, which is still available on the internet. Or you can adopt the practice of reading the Scriptures for five, ten, or thirty minutes at the beginning or end of your day. However you do it, read the Scriptures! If you do this, you will be surprised at how the Scriptures come to permeate every aspect of your life – how you think, how you act, how you plan – and you will be able to exalt and celebrate the Word of God that is Spirit and life.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.