Scripture Reflection for Jan. 24, 2010: 3rd Sunday in O.T.: year C

The first reading records a revolution in religious history—the turning over of all the secret lore of a religion, kept by the priesthood for millennia, to the laity. Everybody can know everything! That was a world-wide first! And from that day, each Jewish individual could read the Torah and know what was required of him or her—and God required the same things from everyone. Paul tells the Corinthians that all are equal, too, in the importance of God’s gifts. God’s requirements and God’s gifts know no hierarchy—they come to all of us. And Jesus, in the Gospel, recognizes His mission as He reads the text of Isaiah: to bring the Good News of God’s love to the “poor”—those who had been deprived of hearing of it—in this case, probably, the Gentiles—none of whom had been taught Torah, and so were truly “spiritually impoverished.” So, Christ saw His mission and message as directly for us—the Gentile folk of the world. His words are our treasure. Let us truly live by them.