Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Today, all the readings invite us to have trust in and totally lean on the Word of God. The second letter of St Paul to St. Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 to 17 is very much in line with the 15th weekend liturgical readings. Here, St Paul kindly advises St Timothy by saying “but as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (14-15)”. Then, St Paul tells the whole world under the influence of Holy Spirit, “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for Teaching, for Reproof, for Correction and for Training in Righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work (16-17)”.
As a matter of fact, the Word of God is Truth and God Himself. And He speaks to us while we read the Bible, during the Holy Eucharistic celebration and during the proclamation of Word. God’s normal ways of speaking to us are multiple: through his inspired Word, which we call Scripture or the Bible; through Truth, wherever we find it; through love.
Today, a handful of people really believe and treasure the Word of God in their hearts. Whoever accepts it and treasures it in their hearts and meditate upon it bears fruits in abundance. We know that the Scriptures come to us in human words, that they are written by men of God under the influence of the Holy Spirit. For us Catholics, the official belief is still clear: Scriptures are divinely inspired and possess an authority that no other writings in creation possess. Thus, we can sit with the Holy Scriptures and meditate on them and come to understand many of the truths concerning God and also about us humans. Thus, the Gospel according to St John chapter 20 verse 31 rightly says: “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name.”
Believing in the Holy Scriptures this way makes an incredible difference in the way that we look at the world. Once we believe that God has really spoken a Word to us in Scripture, then we begin to understand the world through His Word. If we do not believe that the Scriptures are divinely inspired and unique as the Word of God present in our world, then it doesn’t produce any sort of goodness in our lives.
When the first reading today, from the Prophet Isaiah, begins to speak about God’s word, we are invited to understand this Word in the same way that he did: God speaking and revealing Himself in a very personal and strong way. God’s Word never ever fails and it always accomplishes its purpose. When we hear Jesus speaking the parable in the Gospel, we must understand that Word as the strong presence of God in the Hebrew Scriptures and then later in the Christian Scriptures. It is not easy to believe in the Holy Scriptures but it changes our whole relationship with God when we believe in His Word and begin to spend time trying to understand that Word and striving to allow that Word to transform us.