3RD SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME
Nehemiah 8, 2-4; 5,6.8-10
1 Corinthians 12,12-30
Luke 1,1-4; 4,14-21
From The WORD in other words (2019) by Fr Emil Lim (Manila, Philippines)
My good mother who, thank God is now 88 years old, complains of having a very short memory. So short, in fact, that she asks the same question in less than 5 minutes, and repeats that question many times over. A common liability of old age, we say. Knowing that succeeding years would probably only make her forgetfulness worse, she has resorted to more reading and writing. She would read tabloids, TV subtitles, labels on packaging, her copy of Word in other Words, anything that has words in them. And several years ago, she started writing journal of her daily activities: what she reads in the news, people who came to visit, what she ate for meals, the time when she took her medicine. Pen and notebook are always at hand. And if there is nothing else to read, she reads back her journal. How can you not admire and love this old lady? I know for sure that the day will come when those tattered notebooks of hers will be sacred books to me and my siblings.
Fading memory is the common lot of humanity. God has the remedy: Words. It is one of those powers that the Almighty God and Creator shared to us mortals. It is so powerful that whether spoken, read, or written, words carry and communicate memories and stories, emotions and intentions, to hurt and to heal, to warn and inspire, to teach and guide. It is so much an attribute of God that His Son wants to be known as the Divine Word.
The Bible is the written journal of a people’s early experience of the Living God. God inspired authors to put the story of this relationship in words to keep alive the messages, lessons learned, the failures and victories throughout all generations of all races and ages. The Bible is the revelation of God constantly present among His beloved people. The Bible Sunday (Philippines) is meant to remind us of the pre-eminent place of God’s Word in our lives. Then, it serves us well to ask how much of the Bible influences our belief and principles, how much of our life is guided by the Divine Word.
It only takes a few verses every day and a few moments of reflection to enjoy the benefit of the blessings that the Word of God brings. Best of all, it’s free and available 24/7. Take it, read it, love it, and live it.
