28-OT-B October 10, 2021

The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience

Catholic Daily Readings 10-10-2021: Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hebrews 4:12–13

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

The passage is a reflection of the nature of Scripture as the Word of God, and not just its nature but its efficacy.

The Word is living, not a dead letter.

It is active (ἐνέργεια) - it’s energetic and effective.

Two-edged sword (μάχαιρα, ης, ἡ - machavira) - Sword used by Roman Soldiers

Piercing to the division between soul and spirit of joints and marrow. It can pierce us down to our very soul, our inmost part.

Revelation 1:16

In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.

The use of this image of the sword is an apocalyptic metaphor. It represents the power of the Word of the Risen Lord. He is the living and active Word of God.

Scripture convicts and exposes us to the Father and to ourselves. Preaching and hearing have the power to save us, to change and transform us. It also has the capacity to expose our hearts when we are sinful, e.g. Acts. 2:36-37

Acts 2:36–37 RSVCE

Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

I tell you • , on the day of judgment people will render • • an λέγω σύ ὅτι ἐν ἡμέρα κρίσις ἀποδίδωμι περί αὐτός account for every careless word • they speak .  37  • By your words you λόγος πᾶς ἀργός ῥῆμα ὅς ὁ ἄνθρωπος λαλέω γάρ ἐκ σύ ὁ λόγος will be acquitted ,  and by your words you will be condemned .”  δικαιόω καί ἐκ σύ ὁ λόγος καταδικάζω New American Bible. (2011). (Revised Edition, Mt 12:36–37)

St. John Cassian: “As our mind is increasingly renewed by this study, Scripture begins to take on a new face. A mysteriously deeper sense of it comes to us and somehow the beauty of it stands out more and more as we get farther into it. Scripture shapes itself to human capacity. It will be earthly for the men of the flesh, divine for those of the spirit, so that those who once thought of it as somehow wrapped up in thick clouds find themselves unable either to grasp its subtlety or to endure its brilliance.

John Cassian. (1985). John Cassian: Conferences. (J. Farina, Ed., C. Luibheid, Trans.) (p. 165). New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Gregory the Great - The more a saint progresses in Scripture, the more the same Scripture progresses in him…Divine eloquence grows with the reader, for one understands it the more deeply as one’s intention searches ore deply within it. (Homilies on Ezekiel 1.7.8)