Deut 4:1, 5-9 / Matthew 5:17-19
The Bible is the Word of God. We all know that. It is the sacred Book of the Church.
God speaks to us in the written words of the Bible. In the Old Testament, the most revered books are the first five books which are collectively called the Torah or the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
In the New Testament, the most revered books are the four gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The assembly rises when the gospel is proclaimed because where the gospel is proclaimed, Christ is present, and we rise to acknowledge His presence.
Time and again, we have been told to read the Bible. Yes we need to be familiar with the Word of God and it is also a means of prayer to come into the presence of God and into communion with Him.
As we heard in the 1st reading, Moses said to the people : And now, Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord is giving you.
What Moses was telling his people, God is telling us through the Scriptures that we are listening to. Similarly Jesus told His disciples then, He is also telling us now through the gospel.
Jesus said that He came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to complete them. Hence we must understand the Word of God and to keep it in our hearts and to let it guide us in our way of life.
We read it to remind us of what God has told us. Yet as we read the Bible, it also reiterates what God has said and that God is bound to His own word and He will accomplish it and complete it.
We only need to believe in His Word, live by it and let it be completed in our lives.