Becoming living Gospels (Third Sunday, Year C)

The Bible has been the all-time best selling book since it first appeared in print in 1454. It has been translated into more than 2,000 languages. Estimates put the number of Bibles in the world at around 6 billion. That’s approximately one Bible for every man, woman and child on earth. So why, then, is there an apparent disconnect between what we read in the newspaper or see on the TV news and the fact that there are so many Bibles in the world?

First, there is the problem of distribution. I personally own at least ten Bibles. So there are at least nine people in the world who don’t have a Bible because of me. And does this make me ten times holier than the person who owns only one? I wish it were that simple.

The truth of the matter is there are millions of people in China, India and Africa who don’t have a Bible and who never heard of Jesus Christ. But there are tens of millions more people who have Bibles but who never read them.

Just owning a Bible does not automatically make you holy or a better person just like owning an encyclopedia doesn’t automatically make you smart. You have to read it, study it, understand it and incorporate it into your way of thinking and acting.

Of course another factor to consider is there are very different kinds of Bibles. The Hebrew Scripture that Jesus knew consisted of the Torah, or the Books of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. The Protestant Bible, first translated by Martin Luther, contains 63 books; the Catholic Bible 72. See? If you buy a Catholic Bible you get more Word of God for your money!

But having a larger Bible is no more beneficial than having a lot of Bibles. It’s what you do with the Word of God that matters. Then there are the different translations of the Bible. In English alone there are more than 20 different translations. Each is written to help us better understand the message. That’s why it’s good to have at least two or three different translations: one for study, one for prayer, and one to remind us there are different ways to understand and live out the Word of God in our lives.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Jewish service in a synagogue, I encourage you to go, especially if the service is in Hebrew. Hear the words of Scripture as Jesus heard them. The highpoint of the service is opening the curtain and revealing the Torah scrolls. These are handwritten scriptures costing many thousands of dollars. They are usually kept in an elaborate cases made of silver, carved wood and velvet with an exquisite crown. These Torah scrolls are for the Jewish community what the tabernacle is for us Catholics: the visible, tangible proof of God’s love for us and God’s abiding presence with us. On special occasions the Torah is processed into the synagogue and as it passes, people reach out to touch the covering of the sacred texts.

In recent years, we have processed in the church carrying the Book of the Gospels. This has pride of place among all other books of the Bible. Indeed, we filter our understanding of the Bible through what the Gospels tell us about God through Jesus. You notice we don’t carry the Book of the Gospels out after Mass. That’s because after the word is proclaimed and after we hear it and keep it in our hearts, the printed Bible’s work is done.

Now it’s our turn to take the Word of God out into the world, to live it and share it with those around us in our daily lives.

In the first reading from the Book of Nehemiah we hear how the Israelites reacted when they heard the words of the Torah for the first time. Years before, the Temple had been destroyed and their world turned upside down. They thought they had lost their homeland, their Temple, their Torah and their religion. Then their captors allowed them to return and rebuild. Hidden away in the ruins of the old Temple they found the Torah and its reading reminded them that God was still with them.

In the Gospel of Luke we hear how Jesus went into a synagogue and read from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. But he did more than read it. He fulfilled it. He would preach good news to the poor and give sight to the blind and set captives free.

Today is our turn. We have received the word of God. It has the power to transform our lives and through us to transform the world. In a few minutes we will receive the Body of Christ to give us the grace and strength we need to live our lives according to God’s will.

And it all begins with the Bible. Let us make an effort to read the Word of God every day. Let us understand what we read and believe what we understand and live according to what we believe.