Jan 21, 2013
Readings:
Nehemiah 8:2-6,10
Psalms 19:8-10,15
1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21
The meaning of today's Liturgy is subtle and many-layered.
We need background to understand what's happening in today's First
Reading.
Babylon having been defeated, King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the
exiled Jews could return home to Jerusalem. They rebuilt their
ruined temple (see Ezra
6:15-17) and under Nehemiah finished rebuilding the city
walls (see
Nehemiah 6:15).
The stage was set for the renewal of the covenant and the
re-establishment of the Law of Moses as the people's rule of life.
That's what's going on in today's First Reading, as Ezra reads and
interprets (see
Nehemiah 8:8) the Law and the people respond with a
great "Amen!"
Israel, as we sing in today's Psalm, is rededicating itself to God
and His Law. The scene seems like the Isaiah prophecy that Jesus
reads from in today's Gospel.
Read all of Isaiah
61. The "glad tidings" Isaiah brings include these
promises: the liberation of prisoners (61:1);
the rebuilding of Jerusalem, or Zion (61:3-4;
see also
Isaiah 60:10); the restoration of Israel as a kingdom of
priests (61:6;
Exodus
19:6) and the forging of an everlasting covenant
(61:8;
Isaiah
55:3). It sounds a lot like the First Reading.
Jesus, in turn, declares that Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in
Him. The Gospel scene, too, recalls the First Reading. Like Ezra,
Jesus stands before the people, is handed a scroll, unrolls it,
then reads and interprets it (compare Luke
4:16-17,21 and
Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10).
We witness in today's Liturgy the creation of a new people of God.
Ezra started reading at dawn of the first day of the Jewish new
year (see Leviticus
23:24). Jesus too proclaims a
"sabbath," a great year of Jubilee, a deliverance from slavery to
sin, a release from the debts we owe to God (see
Leviticus 25:10).
The people greeted Ezra "as one man." And, as today's Epistle
teaches, in the Spirit the new people of God - the Church - is made
"one body" with Him.