The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr Gil Alejandria SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Friday 9th Week in Ordinary Time
Our Gospel reading today shows how Jesus used the Scriptures to explain who he was. He clarified in this instance how he can be God (whom David calls ‘lord’) and man (as descendant of David). “The great crowd heard this with delight.”
The Scriptures provide a lot of people many insights o understanding their daily lives. When I was a newly ordained priest. I was assigned in Dagupan City. There was a small group of friends who started meeting on Sunday afternoon in a friends home to read and study the Bible. They shared while seated in circle. Soon they called themselves “Circle for Christ.”
The group members liked the way their sharing went and each started talking to their other friends about it. The group grew as more people joined. Later the Bible study become more organized and systematic. Group members took time to study and undergo training to become more organized and systematic.
The original circle expanded to other circles in other places. More people were experiencing the joy o discovering the Word of God. Soon some started thinking how to make the Word of God more alive or more concrete in the lives of their less fortunate brothers and sisters. They were able to solicit scholarship for poor but deserving students. They also started on a program intended to help the youth, especially young girls, so they would not end up in prostitution. They have other activities (too many to mention here) as they continued with their apostolate even long after I left Dagupan.
For me it was a living proof of how the Scriptures can become a force in people’s lives that enable them to reach out to others. As the crowd in the time of Jesus heard his word with delight, so the crowds of today also find delight and enlightenment in God’s Word.
