Hanging onto Every Word

A Reflection on Today’s Gospel, Luke 19:45-48 – 22 November 2024

An encounter with the Word of God, Jesus, is life giving. Do you hang on to every word of Jesus? Below are just two examples of lives radically changed, which in turn, changed countless others.

St Francis

     St. Bonaventure writes in his eye-witness biography of St. Francis of Assisi, that early in Francis’ conversion experience while attending Holy Mass, he heard the Gospel of Luke proclaimed:

… [Jesus] sent [the Twelve] to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. (Luke 9:2–4a NABRE)

     St. Francis’ response was immediate.

“This … is what I desire, yea, this is what I long for with my whole heart.” Forthwith he loosed his shoes from off his feet, laid down his staff, cast aside his purse and his money, contented himself with one scanty tunic, and, throwing aside his belt, took a rope for girdle, applying all the care of his heart to discover how best he might fulfil that which he had heard, and conform himself in all things unto the rule of Apostolic godliness.( Bonaventura 3.1)

     Jesus’ words convicted St. Francis and every Franciscan that followed. He stripped himself of wealth and power to embrace a life of poverty and service. His choice to follow Christ inspired countless others to seek a deeper relationship with God. From Francis’ perspective, he had no other choice. He hung on Jesus’ every word.

St. Augustin

     The phrase, "take up and read," is famously associated with the conversion of St. Augustin. During a moment of spiritual crisis, Augustin heard a child's voice chanting these words repeatedly. Interpreting this as a divine command, he ran home to open Sacred Scripture to a passage from Romans,

Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:13–14 NABRE)

     At St. Paul’s command to “put on the Lord Jesus,” St. Augustin changed.

No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended,—by a light, as it were, of security infused into my heart,—all the gloom of doubt vanished away. (St. Augustin, Conf. 8.12.29)

     Because St. Augustin hung onto the Word of God like a drowning sailor clings to a life ring, the trajectory of St. Augustin’s life profoundly changed from one leading to death through a life of dissipation, to a path leading up to eternal life.

Hang Onto Every Word

     St. Luke meets us today in the Temple. The Lord just publicly exposed the profiteering of the leaders of God’s Temple, using the people’s desire to offer a suitable sacrifice to reconcile with God to pilfer from those in need of God’s healing. It was outrageous and everybody knew it. Evil, like it always does, seeks Jesus’ death to silence Him. Some things never change. Even today, evil seeks to eradicate the voice of God from the public square. St Luke writes,

     The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put [Jesus] to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on His words. (Luke 19:47–48 NABRE)

     The word in Greek for, “hanging on,” is ĕkkrĕmamai (ἐκκρέμαμαι). It means to cling tightly to and treasure. What gets in the way of evil? The answer is in the Gospel. We hang on God’s every word. We cling to it; we treasure it and allow it to transform our lives. In doing this, the lives of so many others are transformed as by an ocean wave of love washing across time. Consider how the conversion of both St. Francis of Assisi and St. Augustin transformed so many lives, stopping evil dead in its tracks.

     Heed the words that converted St. Augustin, "take up and read!" Allow the Word of God to shake you from a spiritual stupor to a spiritual awakening. Just as Jesus confronted the practices occurring in the temple, He invites us to confront our own lives, making space for His transformative grace. Jesus desires to dwell in us and calls us to be active participants in His mission. Cling to Jesus’ every word. Then allow the Word of God to move through you to change the eternal trajectory of every life you encounter. Just as the Word of God converted Sts. Francis and Augustin, He is calling us to hang on to His every word like our life depends on it. It does!

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27 NABRE)

Endnotes

St. Augustin of Hippo. “The Confessions of St. Augustin.” The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustin with a Sketch of His Life and Work. Ed. Philip Schaff. Trans. J. G. Pilkington. Vol. 1. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886. 127–128. Print. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series.

Saint Bonaventura. The Life of Saint Francis. London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1904. Print.