It is 27th January 2019. We celebrate the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings are from Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10; the second reading is from 1Corinthians 12:12-30; and the Gospel from Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21. What is the mission of our life as a Christian? Why are we still following the Lord Jesus when we have so many other options? Are we afraid to listen and embrace the Word of God to guide, motivate, modify, and to have a radical change? Spiritualising and memorising the Word of God does not have any influence in our life rather making a possible effort to put them into practice as much as we can brings the desired change in our lives. God’s Word has the power to germinate new hope, and life when we have prepared the layers of the soul. “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those 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.” (Neh8:10). The first reading teaches the importance of reading, reflecting and interpreting the Word for us to experience the joy by sharing it with someone and the day becomes holy only by consuming the Word of God and nourishing our souls. Evangelising is not possible without the self-education of the Word of God. Our temples of the Holy Spirit will be lighted and brightened up by the Word of God. A soul that does nourishes with God’s Word is highly exposed to the viciously viral attacks of the Satan. It is not enough we have all the knowledge, the background, the critical, exegetical, hermeneutical understandings and historical context of the Word of God when we are least bothered to apply them in our wounded and sinful lives. “Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly a spiritual transformation. God’s Spirit strengthens us to live as children of light through all that is good and right and true.” (CCC 1695). The responsorial Psalm praises, “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.” (Jn.6:63). In the second reading, St. Paul helps us to believe that we are the part of the mystical body of Christ and we need to play our essential and crucial role in our lives. The Gospel presents us with the mandate of the mission of Jesus. The Scripture gets its fulfilment in our belief coupled with our action. The Word of God will remain as powerful as it is, when we have decided not to hear them and follow them. The fulfilment and promise come to the one who hears it and lives by it. The mission of evangelising cannot be accomplished in our lives where there is a shortage of the Word of God. Jesus announced: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk.4:21). Do we feel the same when we have heard the Word of God? Or is it so strange and too sacred to follow? Does the Word of God drench our souls and point out the mission statement of God that is written in our hearts? May we not just read the Word of God for fancy and for time pass rather to examine and exorcise our dark sides our life. May we allow the Word of God to be fulfilment by our constant conversion of God and generosity of our life. In most of us, the Word of God is something so bitter and not so much attractive because of the pervasiveness of the venom of the sin that is not confessed yet. May the Lord heal our wounds and fill our hearts with the blessings through God’s Word. May you have a good day.