it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?
If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
But as it is, God placed the parts,
each one of them, in the body as he intended.
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you, “
nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.”
Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker
are all the more necessary,
and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable
we surround with greater honor,
and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety,
whereas our more presentable parts do not need this.
But God has so constructed the body
as to give greater honor to a part that is without it,
so that there may be no division in the body,
but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.
If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it;
if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the church
to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Glorious Mysteries
(Wednesdays and Sundays)
1.The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29) [Spiritual fruit - Faith]
2. The Ascension (Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11) [Spiritual fruit - Christian Hope]
3. The Descent of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-13) [Spiritual fruit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit]
4. The Assumption [Spiritual fruit - To Jesus through Mary]
5. The Coronation [Spiritual fruit - Grace of Final Perseverance]

Blessed be the most holy Name of Jesus without end!

January Devotion: The Holy Name of Jesus

The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. This feast is also celebrated on January 3. Here is an explanation of the devotion.

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has associated entire months to special devotions. The devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus has been traditionally associated with the month of January, due to its celebration on January 3. The name Jesus was given to the Holy Child at God's command (Luke 1:31). The Holy Name is all-powerful because of the Person who bears it; we honor it because of the command of Christ, that we should pray in His Name and because it reminds us of all the blessings we receive through our Holy Redeemer. Hence St. Paul was able to write to the Philippians: ". . . at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth" (Phil. 2:10). By means of this devotion we also make amends for improper use of the Holy Name.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Prayer/Hymn in Honor of the Most Holy Name of Jesus - Iesu, Dulcis Memoria

Iesu, Dulcis Memoria is a celebrated 12th century hymn attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Doctor Mellifluus. The entire hymn has some 42 to 53 stanzas depending upon the manuscript. Parts of this hymn were used for the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, which was formerly celebrated on the Sunday between the Circumcision and Epiphany, or failing such a Sunday, on January 2. The part below was used at Vespers. In the liturgical revisions of Vatican II, the feast was deleted, though a votive Mass to the Holy Name of Jesus had been retained for devotional use. With the release of the revised Roman Missal in March 2002, the feast was restored as an optional memorial on January 3.

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy face to see
And in Thy presence rest.

No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find,
A sweeter sound than Jesus' name,
The Savior of mankind.

O hope of every contrite heart!
0 joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!

But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know.

Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
As Thou our prize shalt be;
In Thee be all our glory now,
And through eternity. Amen.

---Roman Breviary

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

O Divine Jesus, Thou hast promised that anything we ask of the Eternal Father in Thy name shall be granted.

O Eternal Father. In the name of Jesus, for the love of Jesus, in fulfillment of this promise, and because Jesus has said it, grant us our petitions for the sake of Jesus, Thy Divine Son. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil:2:10-11

St. Francis de Sales on the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Excerpt from a Sermon) (Catholic Caucus)
St. Francis de Sales on the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)

St. Bernard on the Most Holy Name of Jesus [Ecumenical]
Saving the day in His Holy Name: St. Genevieve gets a reprieve [Catholic Caucus]
The Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Name of Jesus [San Bernadino of Siena] Ecumenical
The Holy Name of Jesus

Devotion to the Holy Name [of Jesus]
The Name of Jesus: Its Power in Our Lives
The Holy Name of Jesus
Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus
The Holy Name of Jesus

From: Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10

The Law is read out. The Feast of Tabernacles

[2] And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and wo-
men and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh
month. [3] And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from ear-
ly morning until midday, in the presence of the man and the women and those
who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book
of the law. [4] And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden pulpit which they had made
for the purpose; [5] And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he
was above all the people; and when he opened it all the people stood. [6] And Ez-
ra blessed the Lord, the great God; and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,”
lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with
their faces to the ground. [8] And they read from the book, from the law of God,
clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

[9] And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and
the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the
Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard
the words of the law. [10] Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and
drink sweet wine and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this
day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your
strength.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

8:1-18 The text of this chapter forms part of the “memoirs of Ezra” which the
sacred writer has moved and positioned here in the account of the rebuilding of
the city. By doing so, he highlights the importance of the Law in the new stage
of the history of the chosen people (as the writer sees it, this stage begins with
the reconstruction of their national and religious life spearheaded by Ezra the
priest and Nehemiah the layman). We do not know the exact year when the e-
vents dealt with here occurred, nor the exact content of the Law proclaimed on
this occasion. It is possible that a substantial part of the present Pentateuch
was read out.

The reading and explanation of the Law did not take place inside the temple; the
people gathered around the stage specially set up in front of that building. From
the time of Solomon up to the fall of Jerusalem, religious activity centered on the
temple liturgy. From the exile onwards it was built around the Law by means of
the institution of the synagogue. Because they could not go up to the House of
the Lord, exiles used to meet in private houses or in the open air to listen to the
reading of legal and prophetical texts. The formal meeting described here, held
in a square beside the city wall, shows that in this new stage, with Ezra to the
fore, the Law of the Lord was coming to occupy pride of place in the religious life
of the people, and that it was already more important than the offering of victims
for the purpose of sacrifice.

When they hear the commandments of the Law read out, the people weep be-
cause they have not been keeping some of them and they are afraid that God
will punish them on that account. But Ezra and the Levites make them see that
what they have to do is to start again, on that day, for it is a “holy” day. It was
the festival day of the new civil year (cf. Lev 23:24-25; Num 29:1-6).

The proclamation of the Law seems to be linked to the celebration of the feast
of Booths (or Tents, or Tabernacles). That celebration was already (briefly) men-
tioned in Ezra 3:4-6, but there is a new element here (which must be due to Ez-
ra’s interpretation) – the fact that the booths are made with branches cut in the
hills (cf. Lev 23:39-43). No mention is made of the day of Atonement which was
celebrated on the tenth day of the same month (cf. Lev 23:26-32). During the se-
ven days of the feast of booths Ezra keeps reading out the Law as Deuteronomy
31:9-13 lays down must be done when the year is a sabbatical one. In these ac-
tions of Ezra and the Levites, the teachers of the Laws, we can see the origin of
what will become the “Great Assembly”, the official body which will, in the cen-
turies to come, interpret the Law and identify which books form part of the ca-
non. The reading of the books of the Law will from now on become the most im-
portant way of meeting God and listening to his word.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31

Unity and Variety in the Mystical Body of Christ

[12] For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members
of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. [13] For by one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all
were made to drink of one Spirit.

[14] For the body does not consist of one member but of many. [15] If the foot
should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would
not make it any less a part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because
I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a
part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?
If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? [18] But as it
is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19] If
all were a single organ, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many
parts, yet one body. [21] The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of
you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” [22] On the contra-
ry, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] and
those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater
honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, [24] which
our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body,
giving the greater honor to the inferior part, [25] that there may be no discord in
the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. [26] If
one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice to-
gether.

[27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. [28] And God
has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then
workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various
kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do
all work miracles? [30] Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with
tongues? Do all interpret?

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

12-13. In Greek and Latin literature, society is often compared to a body: even
today we talk of “corporations”, a term which conveys the idea that all the citi-
zens of a particular city are responsible for the common good. St Paul, starting
with this metaphor, adds two important features: 1) he identifies the Church with
Christ: “so it is with Christ” (v. 12); and 2) he says that the Holy Spirit is its life-
principle: “by one Spirit we were all baptized . . ., and all made to drink of the
Spirit” (v. 13). The Magisterium summarizes this teaching by defining the Church
as the “mystical body of Christ”, an expression which “is derived from and is, as
it were, the fair flower of the repeated teaching of Sacred Scripture and the holy
Fathers” (Pius XII, “Mystici Corporis”).

“So it is with Christ”: “One would have expected him to say, so it is with the
Church, but he does not say that [. . .]. For, just as the body and the head are
one man, so too Christ and the Church are one, and therefore instead of ‘the
Church’ he says ‘Christ”’ (Chrysostom, “Hom. on 1 Cor”, 30, “ad loc.”). This iden-
tification of the Church with Christ is much more then a mere metaphor; it makes
the Church a society which is radically different from any other society: “The com-
complete Christ is made up of the head and the body, as I am sure you know well.
The head is our Savior himself, who suffered under Pontius Pilate and now, after
rising from the dead, is seated at the right hand of the Father. And his body is the
Church. Not this or that church, but the Church which is to be found all over the
world. Nor is it only that which exists among us today, for also belonging to it
are those who lived before us and those who will live in the future, right up to the
end of the world. All this Church, made up of the assembly of the faithful — for all
the faithful are members of Christ—has Christ as its head, governing his body
from heaven. And although this head is located out of sight of the body, he is,
however, joined to it by love” (St Augustine, “Enarrationes In Psalmos”, 56, 1).

The Church’s remarkable unity derives from the Holy Spirit who not only assem-
bles the faithful into a society but also imbues and vivifies its members, exerci-
sing the same function as the soul does in a physical body: “In order that we
might be unceasingly renewed in him (cf. Eph 4:23), he has shared with us his
Spirit who, being one and the same in head and members, gives life to, unifies
and moves the whole body. Consequently, his work could be compared by the
Fathers to the function that the principle of life, the soul, fulfills in the human bo-
dy” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 7).

“All were made to drink of one Spirit”: given that the Apostle says this immedia-
tely after mentioning Baptism, he seems to be referring to a further outpouring of
the Spirit, possibly in the sacrament of Confirmation. It is not uncommon for Sa-
cred Scripture to compare the outpouring of the Spirit to drink, indicating that the
effects of his presence are to revive the parched soul; in the Old Testament the
coming of the Holy Spirit is already compared to dew, rain etc.; and St John re-
peats what our Lord said about “living water” (Jn 7:38; cf. 4:13-14).

Together with the sacraments of Christian initiation, the Eucharist plays a special
role in building up the unity of the body of Christ. “Really sharing in the body of
the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion
with him and with one another. ‘Because the bread is one, we, who are many, are
one body, for we all partake of the one bread’ (1 Cor 10:17). In this way all of us
are made members of his body (cf. 1 Cor 12:27), ‘and individual members of one
another’ (Rom 12:5)” (”Lumen Gentium”, 7).

14-27. The unity of the mystical body, which derives from a single life-principle,
the Holy Spirit, and tends towards a common same goal, that is, the building
up of the Church, means that all its members, whatever their position, have the
same basic dignity and the same importance. St Paul develops this thinking by
a very effective literary device: he personifies the members of the human body
and imagines the nobler members looking down on the lesser ones (vv. 21-24).
This serves to reaffirm the truth of v. 25: “that the members may have the same
care for one another”. The responsibility of each Christian derives from the very
essence of the vocation he or she receives at Baptism and Confirmation: “In the
Church there is a diversity of ministries,” St. Escriva explains, “but there is only
one aim — the sanctification of men. And in this task all Christians participate in
some way, through the character imprinted by the sacraments of Baptism and
Confirmation. We must all feel responsible for the mission of the Church, which
is the mission of Christ. He who does not have zeal for the salvation of souls, he
who does not strive with all his strength to make the name and the teaching of
Christ known and loved, will not understand the apostolicity of the Church.

“A passive Christian has failed to understand what Christ wants from all of us.
A Christian who ‘goes his own way’, unconcerned about the salvation of others,
does not love with the heart of Jesus. Apostolate is not a mission exclusive to
the hierarchy, or to priests and religious. The Lord calls all of us to be, by our
example and word, instruments of the stream of grace which springs up to eter-
nal life” (”In Love with the Church”, 15).

28-30. St Paul concludes this description of the different parts of the body by ap-
plying it to the Church, where variety of functions does not detract from unity. It
would be a serious mistake not to recognize in the visible structure of the Church,
which is so multifaceted, the fact that the Church founded by Christ is “one”, visi-
ble at the same time as it is spiritual. The Second Vatican Council puts this very
clearly: “But the society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical bo-
dy of Christ, the visible society an the spiritual community, the earthly Church
and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be thought of as two
realities. On the contrary, they form one complex reality which comes together
from a human element and a divine element. For this reason the Church is com-
pared, not without significance, to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the as-
sumed nature, inseparably united to Him, serves the divine Word as a living or-
gan of salvation, so, in a somewhat similar way, does the social structure of the
Church serve the Spirit of Christ who vivifies it, in the building up of the body (cf.
Eph 4:15)” “Lumen Gentium”, 8).

The Church is this way because that is the will of its founder, Jesus Christ: “The
Church is by divine will a hierarchical institution. The Second Vatican Council de-
scribes it as a ‘society structured with hierarchical organs’ (”Lumen Gentium”, 8)
in which ‘ministers are invested with a sacred power’ (”ibid., 18). The hierarchy is
not only compatible with freedom: it is at the service of the freedom of the chil-
dren of God (cf. Rom 8:21). [...] ‘Hierarchy’ means holy government and sacred
order. In no way does it imply a merely human arbitrary order or a subhuman
despotism. Our Lord established in the Church a hierarchical order which should
not degenerate into tyranny, because authority is as much a call to serve as is
obedience.

“In the Church there is equality, because once baptized we are all equal, all chil-
dren of the same God, our Father. There is no difference as Christians between
the Pope and someone who has just joined the Church. But this radical equality
does not mean that we can change the constitution of the Church in those things
that were established by Christ. By expressed divine will there are different func-
tions which imply different capacities, an indelible ‘character’ conferred on the sa-
cred ministers by the sacrament of Order. At the summit of this order is Peter’s
successors and with him, and under him, all the bishops with the triple mission
of sanctifying, governing and teaching” (St. J. Escriva, “In Love with the Church”,
30).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Prologue

[1:1] Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things
which have been accomplished among us, [2] just as they were delivered to us
by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
[3] it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time
past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, [4] that you
may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.

[4:14] And Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit into Galilee, and a re-
port concerning Him went out through all the surrounding country. [15] And He
taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Preaches in Nazareth

[16] And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and He went to
the synagogue, as His custom was, on the Sabbath Day. And He stood up to
read; [17] and there was given to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened
the book and found the place where it was written, [18] “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has
sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, [19] to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord.” [20] And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant,
and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. [21] And
He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

1-4. St. Luke is the only evangelist to give his book a preface or prologue. What
is usually described as the “prologue” to St. John is really a summary of what
the Gospel contains. St. Luke’s prologue, which is very short and very elegantly
written, describes why he has written the book—to provide an orderly, documen-
ted account of the life of Christ, starting at the beginning.

These verses help us realize that Jesus Christ’s message of salvation, the Gos-
pel, was preached before it came to be written down: cf. the quotation from Vati-
can II’s “Dei Verbum”, 19 (p. 21 above). God, then, wanted us to have written
Gospels as a permanent, divine testimony providing a firm basis for our faith. “He
does not tell Theophilus new things, things he did not previously know; he under-
takes to tell him the truth concerning the things in which he has already been in-
structed. This he does so that you can know everything you have been told about
the Lord and His doings” (St. Bede, “In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc.”).

2. The “eyewitnesses” the evangelist refers to would have been the Blessed Vir-
gin, the Apostles, the holy women and others who shared Jesus’ life during His
time on earth.

3. “It seemed good to me”: “When he says ‘it seemed good to me’ this does not
exclude God’s action, because it is God who prepares men’s will [...] . He dedi-
cates his Gospel to Theophilus, that is, to one whom God loves. But if you love
God, it has also been written for you; and if it has been written for you, then ac-
cept this present from the evangelist, keep this token of friendship very close to
your heart” (St. Ambrose, “Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.”).

16-30. For the Jews the Sabbath was a day of rest and prayer, as God comman-
ded (Exodus 20:8-11). On that day they would gather together to be instructed
in Sacred Scripture. At the beginning of this meeting they all recited the “Shema”,
a summary of the precepts of the Lord, and the “eighteen blessings”. Then a
passage was read from the Book of the Law—the Pentateuch—and another from
the Prophets. The president invited one of those present who was well versed in
the Scriptures to address the gathering. Sometimes someone would volunteer
and request the honor of being allowed to give this address—as must have hap-
pened on this occasion. Jesus avails Himself of this opportunity to instruct the
people (cf. Luke 4:16ff), as will His Apostles later on (cf. Acts 13:5, 14, 42, 44;
14:1; etc.). The Sabbath meeting concluded with the priestly blessing, recited
by the president or by a priest if there was one present, to which the people
answered “Amen” (cf. Numbers 6:22ff).

18-21. Jesus read the passage from Isaiah 61:1-2 where the prophet announces
the coming of the Lord, who will free His people of their afflictions. In Christ this
prophecy finds its fulfillment, for He is the Anointed, the Messiah whom God has
sent to His people in their tribulation. Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit
for the mission the Father has entrusted to Him. “These phrases, according to

Luke (verses 18-19), are His first messianic declaration. They are followed by the
actions and words known through the Gospel. By these actions and words Christ
makes the Father present among men” (John Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 3).

The promises proclaimed in verses 18 and 19 are the blessings God will send
His people through the Messiah. According to Old Testament tradition and
Jesus’ own preaching (cf. note on Matthew 5:3), “the poor” refers not so much to
a particular social condition as to a very religious attitude of indigence and humi-
lity towards God, which is to be found in those who, instead of relying on their
possessions and merits, trust in God’s goodness and mercy. Thus, preaching
good news to the poor means bringing them the “good news” that God has taken
pity on them. Similarly, the Redemption, the release, which the text mentions, is
to be understood mainly in a spiritual, transcendental sense: Christ has come to
free us from the blindness and oppression of sin, which, in the last analysis, is
slavery imposed on us by the devil. “Captivity can be felt”, St. John Chrysostom
teaches in a commentary on Psalm 126, “when it proceeds from physical ene-
mies, but the spiritual captivity referred to here is worse; sin exerts a more severe
tyranny, evil takes control and blinds those who lend it obedience; from this spiri-
tual prison Jesus Christ rescued us” (”Catena Aurea”). However, this passage is
also in line with Jesus’ special concern for those most in need. “Similarly, the
Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery
and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer the image of her poor
and suffering Founder. She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them
she strives to serve Christ” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 8).

18-19. The words of Isaiah which Christ read out on this occasion describe very
graphically the reason why God has sent His Son into the world — to redeem
men from sin, to liberate them from slavery to the devil and from eternal death. It
is true that in the course of His public ministry Christ, in His mercy, worked ma-
ny cures, cast out devils, etc. But He did not cure all the sick people in the world,
nor did He eliminate all forms of distress in this life, because pain, which entered
the world through sin, has a permanent redemptive value when associated with
the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, Christ worked miracles not so much to release
the people concerned from suffering, as to demonstrate that He had a God-given
mission to bring everyone to eternal salvation.

The Church carries on this mission of Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). These simple
and sublime words, which conclude the Gospel of St. Matthew, point out “the ob-
ligation to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, the promise of
Christ’s continual assistance to His Church. You cannot be faithful to our Lord if
you neglect these supernatural demands—to receive instruction in Christian faith
and morality and to frequent the sacraments. It is with this mandate that Christ
founded His Church [...] . And the Church can bring salvation to souls only if she
remains faithful to Christ in her constitution and teaching, both dogmatic and mo-
ral.

“Let us reject, therefore, the suggestion that the Church, ignoring the Sermon
on the Mount, seeks a purely human happiness on earth, since we know that her
only task is to bring men to eternal glory in Heaven. Let us reject any purely na-
turalistic view that fails to value the supernatural role of divine grace. Let us reject
materialistic opinions that exclude spiritual values from human life. Let us equally
reject any secularizing theory which attempts to equate the aims of the Church
with those of earthly states, distorting its essence, institutions and activities into
something similar to those of temporal society” (St. J. Escriva, “In Love with the
Church”, 23 and 31).

18. The Fathers of the Church see in this verse a reference to the three persons
of the Holy Trinity: the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) of the Lord (the Father) is upon Me
(the Son); cf. Origen, “Homily 32”. The Holy Spirit dwelt in Christ’s soul from the
very moment of the Incarnation and descended visibly upon Him in the form of a
dove when He was baptized by John (cf. Luke 3:21-22).

“Because He has anointed Me”: this is a reference to the anointing Jesus re-
ceived at the moment of His Incarnation, principally through the grace of the hypo-
static union. “This anointing of Jesus Christ was not an anointing of the body as in
the case of the ancient kings, priests and prophets; rather it was entirely spiritual
and divine, because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him substantially” (”St.
Pius X Catechism”, 77). From this hypostatic union the fullness of all graces de-
rives. To show this, Jesus Christ is said to have been anointed by the Holy Spirit
Himself—not just to have received the graces and gifts of the Spirit, like the saints.

19. “The acceptable year”: this is a reference to the jubilee year of the Jews,
which the Law of God (Leviticus 25:8) lays down as occurring every fifty years,
symbolizing the era of redemption and liberation which the Messiah would usher
in. The era inaugurated by Christ, the era of the New Law extending to the end of
the world, is “the acceptable year”, the time of mercy and redemption, which will
be obtained definitively in Heaven.

The Catholic Church’s custom of the “Holy Year” is also designed to proclaim
and remind people of the redemption brought by Christ, and of the full form it will
take in the future life.

20-22. Christ’s words in verse 21 show us the authenticity with which He
preached and explained the Scriptures: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing.” Jesus teaches that this prophecy, like the other main prophecies
in the Old Testament, refers to Him and finds its fulfillment in Him (cf. Luke 24:
44ff). Thus, the Old Testament can be rightly understood only in the light of the
New — as the risen Christ showed the Apostles when He opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), an understanding which the Holy
Spirit perfected on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:4).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10 ©

Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose. In full view of all the people – since he stood higher than all the people – Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’; then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord. And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read.

Then Nehemiah – His Excellency – and Ezra, priest and scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.

He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’

Psalm	Psalm 18:8-10,15

Second reading	1 Corinthians 12:12-30 ©

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. If the foot were to say, ‘I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it stopped being part of the body? If the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it was not a part of the body? If your whole body was just one eye, how would you hear anything? If it was just one ear, how would you smell anything?

Instead of that, God put all the separate parts into the body on purpose. If all the parts were the same, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’, nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’

What is more, it is precisely the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones; and it is the least honourable parts of the body that we clothe with the greatest care. So our more improper parts get decorated in a way that our more proper parts do not need. God has arranged the body so that more dignity is given to the parts which are without it, and that there may not be disagreements inside the body, but that each part may be equally concerned for all the others. If one part is hurt, all parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honour, all parts enjoy it.

Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?

Alternative second reading	1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27 ©

Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it.

Gospel	Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21 ©

Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,

for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives

and to the blind new sight,

to set the downtrodden free,

to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

Words Fulfilled in our Hearing

Words Fulfilled in our Hearing — A Biblical Biblical Reflection for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Posted at 2:19 AM on 1/21/2010 |

Ezra and Nehemiah revive the faith

Today’s first reading is taken from the Book of Nehemiah, 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10, a book that tells of the reconstitution of the Jewish community after the Exile, the dispersion and the destruction of Jerusalem. It tells the story of the new beginnings of a community and is full of hope, even through great difficulties still loomed ahead. The priest, Ezra, and a layman, Nehemiah, lived in the time when the people of Israel had been returned to their land after the years of the Babylonian Captivity and it was clearly a time of rebuilding. The people had lost the connections to their faith. Ezra and Nehemiah were commissioned by the Lord to teach what had been lost, to rebuild the communal structures, to inspire the people once again to the high ideals of their Jewish faith so that they could begin to live a healthy social and religious life.

The moving scene depicted in today’s first reading was the moment of the public re-proclamation of the law on which this community’s life was based. The gathered assembly listened to this proclamation in a deeply spiritual atmosphere. Some began to weep for joy at being able once again to listen freely to the Word of God after the tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem and to begin salvation history once again. Nehemiah cautioned them, saying that it was a feast day and that in order to have strength from the Lord, it was necessary to rejoice, expressing gratitude for God’s gifts. Ultimately the Word of God is strength and joy.

What is our own reaction to this powerful scene? This reading is an invitation to each person, and especially to pastoral ministers, to thank God for his fidelity and his gifts and to thank all who have served as co-workers in rebuilding the foundations of our faith and our Church each day.

Luke’s pastoral strategy

The Gospel according to Luke is the only one of the synoptic gospels to begin with a literary prologue [1:1-4]. Luke acknowledges his debt to earlier eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, but claims that his contribution is a complete and accurate account, told in an orderly manner, and intended to provide Theophilus (”friend of God,”) and other readers with certainty about earlier teachings they have received. Luke is not telling people that what they previously learned was wrong. Rather, he confirms them in their faith, affirms them in their desire to know more about Jesus, and also puts things in order for them so that faith will be strengthened. Such a pastoral strategy is still very effective in transmitting the faith today.

Home town boy returns

Luke is not the only evangelist who records Jesus’ visit to Nazareth “where he had been brought up” [4:16]. Mark and Matthew also refer to this episode, although without mentioning the name of the town, referred to simply as “his home town” [Mk 6:1; Mt 13:54]. There are however several differences between the story told by Luke and those of Mark and Matthew. In Mark, Jesus’ visit to his home town is found not at the beginning of his ministry, but after a long period of preaching the Gospel and healing, even after the discourse in parables [4:1-34] and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter [5:21-43]. In Matthew, Jesus has also already pronounced his address on mission to the “Twelve Apostles” [10:2-42].

Luke chose to give this episode first place in his narration of the ministry of Jesus. At first sight we could think that it was Luke’s intention to correct the chronology of Mark and Matthew. A detail of his story demonstrates however that this supposition is incorrect: as Jesus preaches he says that the people in Nazareth will say to him: “We have heard all that has happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside” [4:23]. These words show that before going to Nazareth, Jesus had begun his ministry in Capernaum and had already provoked great admiration among the people, to the point that his fame had reached Nazareth.

An electric moment

When Jesus stood in the Nazareth synagogue, it was an “electric” moment. He took the Isaiah scroll and began to read from chapter 61. The text from Isaiah was taken from a collection of poems about the last days, which foretold the redemption of Jerusalem and symbolized the renewal of the people of Israel. When these words are placed on Jesus’ lips, they identify him as the messianic prophet of the final times, and they announce his mission: to proclaim the Good News, liberate men and women, and tell them of God’s grace. The whole of Jesus’ ministry therefore must be understood in this perspective.

Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: The spirit of the Lord has been given to me …!” [4:16-18; Is 61:1]. Very significantly the last line of Isaiah read by Jesus says: “to proclaim the Lord’s year of favor” [4:19; Is 61:2], and immediately afterwards, Jesus’ message was a declaration that precisely “this text” was being fulfilled on that day. The expression of Isaiah 61:2 “year of the Lord’s favor” clearly refers to the prescriptions in the Book of Leviticus on the jubilee year [Lev 25:10-13].

Luke’s story of Jesus in the synagogue does not quote the whole phrase of Isaiah, which includes two compliments of the object after the verb “proclaim” in Is 61:2. The Gospel quotes only the first (”the Lord’s year of favor”) neglecting the second which is “a day of vengeance for our God”. The prophecy of Isaiah foresees two aspects of divine intervention, the first the liberation of the Jewish people, the other punishment of her enemies. The Gospel has not retained this opposition. The omission clearly has two consequences: a) the message contains nothing negative; b) it is implicitly universal. There is no suggestion of distinction between Jews and non-Jews. Universal openness is an essential character of the ministry and preaching of Jesus, especially in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Today’s Gospel scene ends with Jesus telling his hearers that he is the fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah. In asserting that his words are fulfilled “today,” Jesus is saying in effect that the inauguration of his public ministry marks the beginning of the final times and the entry of divine salvation into human history. Through Jesus‚ own appropriation of Isaiah’s words to his own ministry, he was reminding us that that history did not cover up the triumphs and disasters, the fidelities and infidelities of Israel throughout the ages. Rather, history made them stand out.

The time had come for Jesus to take history into his own hands, to confront it with his own person, to make a difference, and to remind his hearers that God had not abandoned their cries, their hopes, their sufferings, their dreams. God would fulfill them in his own Son who was standing in their very midst in the Nazareth synagogue. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, bringing glad tidings and proclaiming liberty to captives. Not everyone will embrace this good news, as the rest of the Gospel will show us.

The failed evangelist

If we continue reading today’s Gospel story, we realize that the mood of excitement, awe and wonder quickly change when the prophet of Nazareth doesn’t speak the words that the local people wanted him to say. After Jesus sets forth the major points of his ministry in the opening scene in the Nazareth synagogue (vv 16-21), the crowd grows terribly envious of one of their own and tries to get rid of him (vv 22-30). Jesus did not succeed in making himself heard and understood and he had to depart in haste… for his life (v 30). The first images of the ministry of Jesus are of a man who is defeated, unheeded and unwelcome. The people of Nazareth refused to hear his central message of liberation, freedom and reconciliation; they heard an approximation of it, highly colored by their own attitudes.

Our response to God’s Word

Like the people of Israel in the first reading, who gathered around the priest Ezra and listened to the word of God with deep emotion (Neh 8:5), we, too stand to hear God‚s saving message and feel his presence in this and every liturgy. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered: “Amen, Amen” (8:6). With this great “Amen” at the end of every Eucharistic prayer, we acknowledge the real presence on the altar, the living and eternal Word of the Father.

With the people gathered in the Nazareth synagogue, we, too, see and hear God’s Word fulfilled in the person of Jesus, the Word made flesh. To this proclamation, our voices also cry out: “Amen.” “I believe!” May the Spirit that anointed Jesus build us up into one body and send us forth to proclaim God’s freedom and favor for all people.

Father Thomas Rosica, CSB
CEO Salt + Light Catholic Television Network

[The readings for this Sunday are Nehemiah, 8.2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Ps 19; 1 Corinthians 12.12-30; Luke 1.1-4; 4.14-21]

The Inaugural Address (of Christ)

The Inaugural Address

January 23rd, 2010 by Fr. Paul Scalia

We always attach particular importance to a president’s inaugural address. That speech captures the newly sworn-in president’s intentions and purpose for his term. It sets the tone and charts the course for the next four years. So we make special note of the words and remember them. In the case of Abraham Lincoln’s two inaugural addresses, for example, we have even seen fit to set the words in stone and place them in his memorial.

We can understand Our Lord’s address in Nazareth (Lk 4:16-21) in the same way. These words are the first of His public life as recorded by St. Luke. And they have the tone of an inaugural address. Unlike the other Gospel writers, who record Our Lord’s first public words at the Jordan, St. Luke begins with a more formal setting. Our Lord begins His preaching not at the riverside but in an official house of worship. He observes the formal Sabbath custom by accepting the invitation to read from the prophet and to address the assembly. They had already heard about His preaching and miracles from the surrounding countryside (cf. Lk 4:14, 23). Now they want to hear from the man Himself. To set the tone and chart the course for His public ministry (His administration, as it were), Our Lord does two things: He selects a text and He interprets it.

First, the text. No one chooses the passage for Him. He Himself unrolls the scroll and finds the passage (cf. Lk 4:17). He chooses a passage well known to His listeners, a prophecy about the Messiah. In this He resembles other speakers. It is a common rhetorical device to quote or appeal to a text or phrase familiar and important to the listeners. So Our Lord, in choosing this verse, puts a prophecy about the Messiah right before them: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me” (cf. Is 61:1-2). He heightens their expectation of the Messiah.

Then, having called the Anointed One to their minds, He interprets the passage authoritatively and definitively. The authority is indicated by a little detail: “Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down” (Lk 4:20). We might think that he sat down because He had finished. On the contrary, He sat down in order to begin. To begin teaching. In that culture, teachers did not stand but sat (as Jesus would sit to preach the Sermon on the Mount [cf. Mt 5:1]).

Thus conveying His authority, He then gives a definitive interpretation of the text: “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21). Up until His reading of it, the passage from Isaiah was an unfulfilled prophecy. It was provisional, incomplete, pointing to something that would eventually occur, to someone who would come. Now, however, Our Lord brings the passage to completion, to fulfillment. Having heard Him say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me,” the people have heard the Messiah - the Anointed One - Himself.

In this regard Our Lord’s inaugural address differs from all others - and the difference reveals His greatness, His singularity. His address does not give detail about what He will do but about who He is. At an inauguration we expect to hear a lot about programs, policies, procedures, protocols, etc. But Our Lord does not discuss any such thing. Rather, He points to Himself. He has not come to create a program. He has come to create other christs. He has not come to propose some truth or way of life apart from Himself. He has come to propose Himself as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).

Fr. Scalia is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, VA.

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

The Work of God

Year C

- 3rd Sunday in ordinary time

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.

Luke 1:1-4 4:14-21

1 Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,
2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,
3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
4 so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.
Luke 4:14-21 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (NRSV)

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

3rd Sunday in ordinary time - The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.

After my Baptism I returned to Galilee filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. I went to the temple on the Sabbath and started to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. At the end I told them that the passage of Scripture was fulfilled as I read it.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me.”
In Baptism I received the fullness of the Holy Spirit, I had the power, the wisdom and the love of God in me. I was the God Man empowered to carry out the work of Salvation.

I came to announce the Good News; that the Kingdom of Heaven is very near to those who repent. I came to free the captives of sin by making my Mercy available to all sinners who acknowledge their guilt and ask for pardon. I came to heal the sick not only in their bodies but also in their souls. I came to open the eyes of the blind not just physically but spiritually, to bring them from darkness into the light. I came to free those oppressed by the evil one, those who are totally lost except for my intervention. I came to proclaim the goodness, the mercy and the grace of God.

I came to change the world for good. I am still here to transform the hearts of all those who listen to my word and believe that I am the same: yesterday, today and forever. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of every thing, the One with the power to save what is lost, to give life to what is dead, the One who paid the ransom for your Salvation.

I am the Lord your God, I am Spirit. I have come to offer you my Holy Spirit so that you partake of my gifts, that you may open your eyes and see what I am offering you. I give you everything in proportion to your faith. You see it is by believing in me that you acknowledge who I am. It is by trusting in me, that you come to enjoy the physical and spiritual healing that I give. My miracles are still available to the believers. I am the Son of God, the only way to Him, sent to give testimony of His Power, Wisdom and Love.

Everyone who is baptised is anointed with the Holy Spirit, he is a living temple of the Presence of God, he is invited to grow in the faith, to achieve knowledge of God and to become like Him.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

The Road to Emmaus

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Brian Pizzalato *

First Reading – Neh. 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 19:8, 9, 10, 15

Second Reading – 1 Cor. 12:12:30

Gospel Reading – Lk. 1:1-4; 4:14-21

The Gospel of Luke opens with an address to Theophilus. The name “Theophilus” means “lover of God,” therefore this beautiful Gospel is addressed to all those who love God, “so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received” (Lk 1:4).

In the second part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke we are told about Jesus’ visit to a synagogue in Nazareth. Luke tells us, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14). This comes after “the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove” in his baptism by John in the Jordan, and after he was “led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days” (Lk 3:22; 4:1-2).

Now Jesus goes into the synagogue, “according to his custom,” stands up, unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and purposefully looks for the passage he wants to read. He reads from Isaiah 61:1-2 where it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Following the reading Jesus says something of the utmost significance: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21). In order to help us see the importance of this reality, Hugh of St. Victor says, “All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and this one book is Christ; because all Sacred Scripture speaks of Christ, and all Sacred Scripture is fulfilled in Christ.” Rupert of Deutz makes clear, “We would not understand the Scriptures if they had not been fulfilled in him.” Now, we might ask what exactly is being fulfilled in Christ in this passage from Isaiah.

The passage from Isaiah that Christ fulfills in their hearing is packed-full of meaning.

First, Jesus is the long-awaited messianic king. Jesus, by virtue of his being anointed by the Holy Spirit, is the Messiah, which means “anointed one.” The Baptism of Jesus is his royal anointing (cf. Lk 4:18). Jesus is truly in the line of the Davidic kings, and thus he is the fulfillment of the covenant made with David (cf. 2 Sm 7). As Tim Gray notes in his book Mission of the Messiah, “It was known that the Messiah would be a king, because ‘the Lord’s anointed’ was a title for the King of Israel” (p. 25).

Second, Jesus proclaims that he is the fulfillment of what the jubilee year in the Old Testament was all about. Jesus comes to “proclaim liberty to the captives…and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk 4:18, 19). “And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (Lv 25:10). This meant that every 50 years all debts were to be canceled, all slaves were to be freed, and all lands were to be returned to the families that originally owned them.

Jesus fulfills the Jubilee year not by canceling monetary debt, or freeing slaves from their masters, or returning a patch of earth back to the original owners. He accomplishes what the Jubilee year was pointing ahead to all along. With regard to Christ, “The slaves to be freed are those enslaved to sin. The debts to be canceled are the sins of both Jews and Gentiles. The inheritance (land) to be restored is not Palestine, but Eden, the original patrimony of Adam and his children. The land to which the new Joshua (Jesus) will lead His people is the Promised Land of heaven” (Gray, p. 37).

How is this to occur in the lives of the people of Jesus’ day, and our day? At the end of the Gospel of Luke Jesus promises to give us the gift he was given in his baptism - namely the Holy Spirit. He says, “And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49).

In conclusion, the Catechism tells us, “This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah’s, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people” (1287). By receiving the Holy Spirit, Christ has set us free from slavery to sin, thus canceling the debt owed by our sinfulness, so that we might one day share in the glory of the beatific vision of heaven.

Sunday Gospel Reflections

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Nehemia 8:2-4,5-6,8-10 II: 1Cor 12:12-30

Gospel
Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21

¹ Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us,
² just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
³ it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph'ilus,
⁴ that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
^4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country.
¹⁵ And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read;
¹⁷ and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
²⁰ And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
²¹ And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Interesting Details

(v.14) "in the power of the Spirit". Luke prepares his readers to appreciate that the passage from Isaiah in verse 18 applies to Jesus ("The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...").
(v.15) The synagogue was the real center of religious life in Israel. The law at that time was that wherever there were ten Jewish families there must be a synagogue. The synagogue service has three parts:
a. The worship part, where a prayer is offered.
b. The readings of the scriptures by members of the congregation. It is likely that Jesus' reading is by pre-arrangement.
c. The teaching part, whereby a distinguished person in the congregation is invited to speak, followed by a discussion.
(v. 18) Jesus is the Spirit-bearer foretold in this Isaiah passage. The goal of his ministry is spelled out here. Luke arranges the verses in a pattern commonly found in ancient literature:
a. good news to the poor
b. release to the captives
c. sight to the blind
b'. freedom to the oppressed
a'. proclaim year of the Lord's favor
This concentric arrangement helps the reader see that lines a and a' are similar, b and b' are similar. Line c stands out as the focus of the verses.
(v. 19) In ancient Jewish tradition, at an interval of every fifty years, a "jubilee" year was celebrated where all debts are forgiven and slaves regain their freedom. For obvious reasons, the poor look toward this jubilee year with much hope. Jesus brings new meanings to the jubilee year: freedom from and forgiveness of sins.
(v. 20) Jesus sits down. This gives the readers the impression that he is finished. Actually he is about to start. The speaker usually gives his address while seated.
(v. 21) "Today this scripture has been fulfilled". The word "today" should not be taken to mean "at the time of Jesus". It refers to the present time of fulfillment of God's promise.

One Main Point

God is ever faithful to his people. In Jesus he fulfills his promise: to set us free, to bring awareness to our unenlightened (and thus blind) state.

Reflections

What does the word "freedom" mean to me? As a Christian, how am I free or not free?
I close my eyes to 'see' what blindness is like. I attempt to remember the colors around me, to remember the faces of people I know. As Jesus has restored the sight of the blind, I ask Jesus to restore the sight of my soul, to give me new understanding and awareness.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.