MANY PARTS, YET ONE BODY…

Nehemiah 8:2-6

2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden pulpit which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Ma-aseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Misha-el, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he opened it all the people stood.
6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God; and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah 8:8-10

8 And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-30

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
18 But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
19 If all were a single organ, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, 25 that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

Luke 1:1-4

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us,
2 just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.

Luke 4:14-21

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country.15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read;
17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  

MEDITATION: 

NEHEMIAH Details the temple architecture; liturgical elements and setting such as the location of the mikvah or ritual bath; the pulpit whereupon the ‘book’ of the law was placed and read, whilst the poeple were in a standing position. The reading was explained to the hearers who listened attentively, meaning; no disturbing; shouting, applauding or interruptions were permitted during the homily or preaching!
At the send-off, the priest gives the final blessing upon which the people in the standing position, bow the head, raise their hands and say the Amen twice. Catholics will notice that the Church has for the most part received and held on to many liturgical elements, structure, rituals and small “t” and big “T” Traditions, that she received from the Hebrew people.

SECOND READING: Paul highlight the unity of the body and Spirit of the Church with the understanding that she has one universal (Catholic) mode of worship, practice and teaching. Members from different cultures make up the body with diverse callings, apostolates; gifts vocations and charisms that are ordered towards the same end in so far as it express the universal unity of belief, dogmas, teachings and practices of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

GOSPEL READING: It is reasonable to infer that Luke, a disciple of Christ, and later on an avangelist and companion of Paul was invited by Theophilus to pen the life of Christ and His Apostles. Theophilus may have already been christianized, wherefore he required a more formal written document for the sake of handing on the faith in it’s fullness, as he received it from those who brought him into the Church.The second stanza of the gospel describe the formal introduction of Christ when He delivered his maiden homily in His local Synogogue in Nazareth. From hence forth, the mission and adult life of Christ is revealed to all men to appropriate and live out the gospel of Christ Jesus.

Whilst it is true that the Church has seen the Eastern schism in the eleventh century and the so called “Reformation” that was instigated by a Catholic priest Fr Martin Luther, the Church has for two thousand years remained one in her teaching and dogmas. From time to time She had to call a council to give light to and affirm Her teachings that were handed on to us, commonly refered to as Sacred Tradition! False teachers will regularly manifest in the Church, however they shall be charitably reprimanded to correct their teachings and or their ways. Both clergy and laity requires correction and reprimand when the Gospel and Church teachings are falsified! The Church that our Lord established upon Peter shall prevail and remain One Body, One Faith, One Pope with One Universal set of beliefs and dogmas!

LET US PRAY: Psalms 19:8-10
8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 

Commentary: Henry R SYLVESTER 
Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.