SOUNDS FAMILIAR

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 17^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Sounds Familiar.”

All of us who come to Mass a lot - all of us who have heard scripture passages over and over again - from time to time - we start to hear sounds in the Bible texts that remind us of other texts.

If that happens, that's a good sound....

It’s like music. We’re hearing a song, but we say about part of a piece of music, “I heard this somewhere before.”

When that happens with the readings at Mass, we’re getting into them; they are becoming us; we’re connecting with the Bible in the tabernacle of our head.

The words are becoming flesh - and then especially when we put them into practice in our life.

AND WE’RE ONLY HEARING THE SCRIPTURES IN ENGLISH

We are hearing the scriptures in English - in different translations.

I have been hearing ever since I started taking courses on the Bible in the seminary  - and then in reading books and articles on the Bible as well as workshops after that -  that there are many, many interconnections and cross references in the original languages - word plays - what have you -  with other texts in the Bible.

Moreover, I’m sure you have heard that the chapter and the verse numbers - in the Bible - were not in the original texts. They were added much later on - from the 1200 to 1500’s A.D.   So when we want to refer one Bible text with another Bible text  we use numbers for the chapters and the verses. Sometimes the original texts make references to other texts by using a word or an image or a phrase that people upon hearing the it will connect it with a similar word or words in another text. It’s not plagiarism.

So it’s not by accident that the Gospel of John begins with the words, “In the beginning” - which is telling Jewish Christians - this is a new beginning - a new Genesis - because Genesis begins with the same words: “In the beginning.”

I always heard that there is a lot more of this going on in the Bible that those of us who can't read the Bible in it's original languages would know. Ooops. I’m assuming that none of us here speak Hebrew and Aramaic and Greek - so we miss these word plays in the original  texts connecting one text with another text.

TODAY’S FIRST READING FROM EXODUS 33

Today’s first reading from Exodus 33 talks about Moses, tents, and going apart.

Today’s first reading talks about Moses in the desert 40 days and 40 nights - fasting.

I’m sure that triggers for us a connection of Moses with Christ - who did those very things - except for the tent. Jesus was the tent - sometimes translated in English by the word “tabernacle. Jesus is also the temple after it replaced the tent in Jewish life and worship - and we Christians are familiar with the veil in the temple when it was ripped in two at Jesus’ death and his presence went into the great tent and temple of the world. [Cf. Matthew 25:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45.]

The early church was saying to Jewish Christians that Christ was the New Moses and he was fulfilling Judaism.

Notice in today’s first reading that Moses liked to go apart - by himself - to hiding places - to the Holy of Holies in tent form - so  I hope it triggered the many times Jesus in the gospels is going apart to be with his father - our Father, our God.

And we can do the reverse: we can take a New Testament text - especially from the gospels - or the Letter to the Hebrews - and we can see all the references in those New Testament texts to Old Testament texts.

Let me also add that to grasp the scriptures, we need to know allegory - as well. For example, today’s gospel is an allegory. All these references to seed and earth - bring us right into the minds and earth of Israel and its people.

CONCLUSION

Together with all these word connectings,  these familiar sounds, we can go deeper and deeper into spiritual understandings of our scriptures.  

The title of my homily was: “Sounds Familiar.”

How many times have Christians gone to a Jewish Temple or Synagogue and looked up and saw a tabernacle. 

We pause and think: "That looks familiar."

Then they saw a rabbi or someone open up the tabernacle door and out came the Sacred Scriptures. 

Then we said inwardly, “Oh my God we believe the same thing - but we believe the Word became flesh and lives among us."

Then we conclude: "Wow! When it comes to religion so much looks familiar and so much sounds familiar. Amen.