3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – The Word of God (2025)
“Today is holy to the LORD your God” (3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, first reading). What made that day holy?
That day something happened that hadn’t happened in a long time. “Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly…he read out of the book from daybreak till midday.”
This might not seem special to us as we hear the Word of God read to us every Sunday. In fact, if we come to Mass every day, we hear the Word of God every day. We can add to that most people know how to read today. So, we can read the Bible as the Word of God as often as we want (I hope that is daily for you!).
In Ezra’s days, most people could not read. So, it was something special to hear the Word of God read to them. In this setting, the people had not heard it ready for a long time.
We hear the Word of God read to each Sunday. Typically, it takes around five to eight minutes. With that people think Mass is too long.
On this occasion, Ezra “read out of the book from daybreak till midday.” You might wonder if the people went to sleep or started talking among themselves out of boredom.
They did not!
We are told that “all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.”
How attentively do you listen for the few minutes during which the Word of God is read at Mass? The Sunday readings are on a three-year cycle. Do you think to yourself, “I’ve heard it all before, can we get on with Mass?.”
Yes, we have heard it all before if we have been in church the last time the same readings were used (that assumes you go every Sunday and didn’t miss the readings before). Yet, God’s Word is living and effective (see Hebrews 4:12). If we listen attentively, God can speak to us in new and extraordinary ways. Maybe something has changed for you. Maybe you weren’t ready to grasp the readings full meaning before. Listen attentively and let the Word of God speak to you each time you hear it read.
When Ezra finished the readings at midday, the people answered “Amen, amen!” We say “amen” to end our prayers. We say amen a lot of times at Mass. We say it in response to the minister who says to us “The Body of Christ” as we receive Communion.
Do you know what “amen” means?
It does not mean “thank you.” Amen means “I believe.” We are saying we believe it is the Body of Christ. This is why the proper response when receiving Communion is “amen,” not thank you.
When the people responded “amen,” they were saying, “YES! We believe. We believe in the words we have heard!” They were so amazed and blessed by the Word of God they had heard that “they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD.”
What is your reaction when you hear the Word of God proclaimed at Mass?
It didn’t end there. After “Ezra read plainly from the book of the law,” he interpreted it “so that all could understand what was read…All the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.”
Have you ever wept from hearing the Word of God read to you?
What is your reaction when the homilist begins to interpret the readings? Do you think, “Oh not him preaching again” or do you assume he will preach “the same old thing”? Are you open to God speaking through the homilist to say something new or do you tune out during the homily too?
We need the Holy Spirit to burn within us so that we understand that the Lord’s words “are Spirit and life,” and that “the law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.” It is trustworthy, giving wisdom, and right. It enlightens the eye. It is true and just.
The Israelites took the Word of God very seriously that day. Do you take it seriously?
Unfortunately, not everyone does. That’s why a few years ago Pope Francis decreed that the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time always be celebrated as the Sunday of the Word of God, to remind us of the importance of God’s Word as a living and effective Word.
The words in the Bible are not simple human words. They are the inspired Word of God. The writers took their role seriously. Luke tells us how he relied on testimony of eyewitnesses to write the gospel that bears his name. He speaks of how they handed the word down to us. He investigated “everything accurately anew.” He did this so that we “we may realize the certainty of the teachings” we hear in the gospel.
It was Jesus’ custom that He always went “into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” He knew God’s Word as we find it in the Old Testament. He got up and read a scroll one day that contained a prophecy about him. When He finished, He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Many were amazed. What do you think when you hear God’s Word?