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.”

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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).

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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.

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.’