Reflection for the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, 2025

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, 2025

Feb 3, 2025 | Reflections

The readings in last Sunday’s Mass reminds us of the importance of the Scriptures in our lives.

In the first reading, the Priest Ezra read the from the Law, that is, the Torah or first five books of the Bible, from early morning until noon. The occasion was the Dedication of the newly rebuilt Temple. The people had returned from exile in Babylon and during that period they had not been able to worship properly and had also adopted the Aramaic language. So, Ezra had to also translate from the Hebrew language in which the Torah was written into Aramaic as he taught and explained the Scriptures. As he read the Scriptures the consciences of the people were lit up, they understood clearly the reason for their exile and also God’s faithfulness in bringing them back into their own land. They also came to understand where they now stood in God’s eyes. In reflecting on the Word of God the people were moved to tears. But Ezra and Nehemiah encouraged them to be happy on this Feast of Dedecation.

In the second reading, St Paul sees the Church as a great Mystical Body composed of many members, with different functions, gifts, strengths and weaknesses, sharing the one Spirit.

In the Gospel, Jesus is in the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth on the sabbath. He reads from the Prophet Isaiah: 

The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me…he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour….. Jesus then said: This passage is fulfilled this day in your hearing. 

He is the fulfilment of all the prophecies of the coming Messiah and Jesus remains with us in the fullest degree in the Blessed Sacrament and is also present in the Scriptures. St Augustine said of the Eucharist: 

You become what you receive. 

We could also say about the Word of God in the Scriptures: We become what we read.  The Psalm says: 

Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).

This highlights how Scripture guides us. The Church encourages us to nourish ourselves each day on the Scriptures. If we attend daily Mass, we hear a great deal of the Scriptures, in the course of a year. So, we are nourished with the Word and the Eucharist. 

The Church owes a great debt to St Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church, for his help in preserving the Bible. St Jerome was born in the third century in modern day Croatia. He is famous for his lifetime achievement in translating the entire Bible into Latin. The original Scriptures were written in Hebrew and Greek. It took him twenty-three years to complete this project. Latin was the common language of the people in those days due to the extent of the Roman Empire. Latin is still the official language of the Catholic Church. So, through St Jerome the Bible became accessible to the common people of the day. His translation is known as the Vulgate, and this became the standard Bible for the Western Church and for many centuries had a profound influence on Theology and Western culture.  St Jerome also wrote Scriptural Commentaries and Apologetic works. He had also spent several years as a hermit in the Syrian desert where he devoted himself to study and prayer. Later, he settled in Bethlehem and established a monastery there, next to the birthplace of Jesus. It could be said that Jerome gave flesh to the Bible. He said: 

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

The Saint continued his scholarly work for the Church until his death in 420 AD. Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

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