Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10 / 1 Cor 12:12-30 / Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
It has been announced that the usage of cheques for monetary transactions will come to an end soon.
So, with the era of cheques coming to an end, phrases like “my first pay-cheque” will also become archaic and obsolete.
But for those of us who had the experience of receiving our first pay-cheque, we may remember how thrilled we were then.
It was a symbol of our first achievement in the working world.
It was a symbol of our independence and our abilities.
And we may remember what we did with our first pay-cheque.
We may have given half the amount to our parents as a gesture of gratitude. Or we may have given a treat to our family and friends.
Whatever it might be, that piece of paper with writing on it says a lot and meant a lot to us.
As we move to electronic banking, we will surely miss receiving cheques, because that means money coming in.
On the other hand, we won't miss writing cheques, because that means money going out.
And with the “go green” campaign and going paperless, there are also lesser and lesser hard copies of printed matter.
But we also do not deny that there is a realistic feel about hard copies like books and notes.
We can touch it, feel it, read it in black and white, and we are able to relate to it with almost all our senses.
In the gospel, Jesus came to Nazareth, and He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
He stood up to read, and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He opened the scroll and found the passage that began with: The spirit of the Lord was given to me for he has anointed me.
That passage talked about bringing good news to the poor, liberty to captives, to the blind new sight, setting the downtrodden free, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.
When He had finished, Jesus rolled up the scroll and sat down, and all eyes were fixed on Him.
Then He said to them: This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.
And every Mass, we listen to the readings from the Scriptures. As we listen, was there any word or phrase or image that came to our minds?
Today, the Church celebrates “Word of God” Sunday. God speaks to us through His Word in the Scriptures. There is something that is to be fulfilled today as we listen.
There is a story of a young boy, Tommy, who was very intelligent, but also very naughty and disruptive in class.
One day, Tommy came to class early and saw his teacher scribbling something on a piece of paper, and he asked her what she was writing.
The teacher replied: I'm writing a prayer for you. Tommy tried to look at the prayer, but he couldn't read it as it was written in shorthand (a system of fast writing that uses lines and simple signs to represent words and phrases).
Then another student came into the class and talked to the teacher. While the teacher was not looking, Tommy took that prayer slip and put it into his exercise book. And then he forgot about it.
Many years later, Tommy became a very successful businessman, but he had been resorting to some dishonest means.
One day, while he was clearing his storeroom, he flipped through his old exercise book and that prayer slip of many years ago slipped out.
He was surprised, but also intrigued by what was written in it but he could not read it as it was in shorthand.
So, next morning, he asked his secretary to translate it for him. The secretary read it, and blushed, and said that she will type it out and put it on his desk.
The translated note came in an envelope, and Tommy took it out and read that prayer that his teacher wrote. It went like this:
Lord, Tommy is a very intelligent boy, but he is very disruptive in class and very naughty. Please guide him as he grows up so that he won't do anything wrong in the future.
Tommy was stunned by what his teacher wrote, because he was about to close a deal in which he would receive a very fat pay-cheque, but it was by a very dishonest means.
That prayer note woke him up and he stopped the deal.
It can be said that God had fulfilled that prayer of Tommy’s teacher.
If prayer notes can change lives, then God's Word can move mountains and change hearts.
So, let us listen attentively to God's Word, and may it awaken us to do what God wants of us today.