Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate,
he read out of the book from daybreak till midday,
in the presence of the men, the women,
and those children old enough to understand;
and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.
One of the ministries that I miss due to my neurological condition is preaching. Over 40 years this was an aspect of my priestly ministry that I cherished. Fortunately, in my seminary years I had a gifted professor of homiletics, Fr. Charles Miller, who imparted his rich knowledge in effectively preaching the Word to his students.
I will never forget the sage advice of Fr. Miller when he said, “When you think you’re losing your audience, just interject a story, folks lovc stories!” I remembered that advice throughout the years of my active priesthood. Whenever I was preaching and could sense that folks were getting restless, I’d try to interject, ‘now, I’d like to tell you a story,’ and unfailingly, heads would lift and all eyes were back on me as they listened attentively to what would follow. Yes, we all love stories.
Perhaps, that is the reason why our First Reading in today’s Eucharist from the Book of Nehemiah captured so dramatically our attention. It narrates the story of how the Law of the Lord, the Torah, had literally been lost. In the excavations being done on the Temple in Jerusalem following the return of the Jews from their Babylonian captivity in exile, the Law of the Lord, the Torah, was found once again and the passage we have today dramatically tells the story of how Ezra the priest proclaims anew that cherished Word of God to the People.
Truly, the Word of God comes alive when that story becomes our story. The Word of God comes alive when the meaning of that word is translated in the very quality in which we live our lives. No wonder, then, that it has been said that St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the word always and sometimes use words!”