January 26, 2025
Loving Father,
Open our hearts to Your Word. May Your Son, the Word of Life, fill us with joy as we reflect on His life, death, and resurrection. May we rejoice in His presence among us as we break open Scripture and share our faith together. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written after the Babylonian Exile. Here the people of Israel are able to return from exile and, under the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah, they rebuild the temple and reclaim the laws of their holy nation.
Our reading from Nehemiah shares the first proclamation of the Holy Law since the temple was restored. The people are spellbound and weep as it is read by Ezra the priest.
Their weeping stems from the guilt they had for their past sins which was the cause of their exile. Ezra is quick, however, to encourage the people. “Do not be sad, and do not weep,” he says. “Today is holy to the Lord.” He encourages them to rejoice in the Lord their strength.
Whenever we return from our sins (our own exile) and are welcomed by God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we might find ourselves weeping. Soon, however, our weeping turns to rejoicing when we recognize that Christ has forgiven us.
How is the Sacrament of Reconciliation a moment for weeping and rejoicing in your spiritual journey?
Commentary
In our First Reading, both Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the temple builder had their particular calling by God to help restore Israel after the exile. They each new their duty and calling and, working together, they helped to bring peace to Jerusalem.
As we consider our own calling, we recognize that we cannot all have the same charisms and duties. Each person within the Church has a specific gift for building up the Kingdom of God.
St. Paul reminds us that “the body is not a single part, but many.” He says, “You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.”
In our present world, we find various role confusions. Should a wife take the husband’s role, the husband take the wife’s role, the parent be the “friend” of the child, etc. Often, role confusion is born out of jealousy. As we consider our vocations in the Church, there should be no confusion or jealousy. Our purpose for each of our vocations in life is the same: to build up the Body of Christ.
Do you know your vocation in the Church? What is its purpose?
Continued...
Commentary
As Ezra opened up the Holy Law in our First Reading, Jesus unrolls the scroll in our Gospel. Reading from Isaiah, Jesus’ crowd is spellbound. They listen attentively as He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.”
The proclamation of the Word of God is only as powerful as its reception. The response of the crowds in our First Reading and our Gospel is the same. They are in awe as these holy men utter the Word of God. They are in awe, because they are ready and receptive to whatever God has to say.
However, Jesus then says something in our Gospel that catches His assembly off guard. Rolling up the scroll, He says, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, He is saying that He is the anointed one (the Messiah). In just these few short words, He has presented His credentials and thus established His role. This will create a firestorm within the crowd (read next weekend’s Gospel). Though His identity and role are made clear, the crowd’s reception becomes hostile.
How are you receptive to the Word of God? Are you one who filters out what you would prefer not to hear or are you open to hearing all of God’s Holy Word?
Every person has a vocation in the Church.
The root meaning of vocation is “calling” and the first calling shared by all Christians is holiness as a member of the Church. After that, there are four basic states of life or vocations within the Catholic Church: marriage, consecrated life, priesthood and the single state as a lay person. Have you discovered your vocation? How can you help another discover his or her own vocation?
All say the following:
Response: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
R: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
R: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
R: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
R: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
Used with Permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood © is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix. Free resources at dphx.org/christ-in-our-neighborhood.
