In this age and time, too often we quickly forget that our gifts and talents, positions and offices, statuses and privileges, especially in the Church are meant to unify us rather than divide us. We allow them to get to our heads and we feel the need to be treated specially and superiorly even with a sense of entitlement. We are far too divided than united! Today, on this Sunday of the Word of God, the Church presents the Word of God to all of us as a catalyst of unity and consolation to us in time of sorrows and tribulations and that is what we find playing out in our readings today.

In the first reading, we find the story of the people of Israel, who had been united in their effort to rebuilding themselves as a people and nation after the Babylonian exile. However, at this time, their unity was still individualistic as they had not yet been united as one people of God.

Hence, today, the seventh month of their settlement, they all gathered together at the square before the water Gate, and Ezra read the Word of God, the Good news, to their hearing. This Word of God became the symbol of their unity as a people of God, as they all echoed with one voice “Amen, Amen” after which they all bowed their heads in worship of God. This is the same unity we enjoy today as one people of God, members of Christ’s body, how often do we preserve this unity? In many ways we destroy this unity, especially sometimes when we feel we are most important and indispensable because of the positions we occupy or gifts we have. Sometimes we feel the Church cannot do without us because we are the best singers in the choir, the most articulate among the Lay readers, the most available among altar servers, the president of pious societies and organizations in the Church, and at the slightest provocation, we stop coming to Church.

Other times, there is the tussle among societies and groups as to which one is most important in the Church – these are trivial matters that destroy the unity of the Church. Today, the word of God, should unite us rather than divide us.

In the Gospel reading, we also see how the Word of God unites all of us in Christ; in the mission of the Messiah as prophesied by Isaiah but proclaimed by Jesus. Jesus entered the synagogue at his hometown of Nazareth and proclaimed the Word of God to them from the scroll handed to him – which is what still happens today when the Gospel is being proclaimed by the cleric. Reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, he proclaimed thus: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed and sent me to bring Good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the downtrodden… “Afterwards, he sat down and said “this text is being fulfilled today in your hearing.” In other words, he seems to say “I am the one being referred to here, and that was my manifesto.” This would have caused a lot of reactions, which we would know about next Sunday – but we can imagine that some might have separated themselves from this mission, especially those who were not poor, nor in prison, nor blind, nor downtrodden.

Sadly, this is how some of us today still think – that there is no need for God, when we have all the money in the world, or that Church is for the poor, and needy. Hence, the homily of Jesus today might have caused some sorts of division among the people.

However, when poverty is used here, it is not in monetary terms, just as blindness here is not limited to physical lack of sight and captivity, not in being enchained. These are carefully selected metaphors to mean a lack that makes us dependent on God, and we all in one way or the other are in lack, poor, blind and in captivity, much in need of God.

Hence, the Word of God proclaimed by Christ today in the synagogue unites all of us in our individual lacks and dependence on God. Why then do we still champion divisions among ourselves on account of what we have, when all of us are still lacking in some other things?

Remember, at some points, the situation in the Church of Corinth at the time of Paul, was a situation of division and disunity as a result of lack of understanding of gifts and talents. Some people felt they were self sufficient, superior, indispensable and more important than others on account of their gifts and privileges – and this was dividing the body of Christ.

Hence, we find St Paul, in the second reading of today, addressing this issue of disunity using the analogy of the human body. He emphasizes that just as every part of the human body is important, so also, every gift, talent, position, office, group, pious society and organization within the Church and beyond is important, as one cannot do without the other. In other words, we are still one body, and our diversity is for the purpose of unity.

Today, as we celebrate the Word of God, we are reminded that it is this Word of God that binds us all together as a people of God, members of Christ’s body. We are all equal before God, no one is either superior or inferior.

Again, we are reminded that the Word of God is not just a catalyst for unity alone, but also of consolation. In the first reading, the people of Israel listened to it and blessed the Lord, because it became for them a source of great joy and consolation, so much so that Ezra told the people not to again be sad. This is because having listened to the word of the Lord, the joy of the Lord became their strength.

In the Gospel, we read the consoling words from the scroll proclaimed by Jesus – Good news to the poor, sight to the blind, freedom to captives etc., this is what the Word of God does for us. No matter what we are going through in life, let the Word of God be our consolation today. God bless us all.