Gospel: Luke 4:16-30
Jesus 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,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Timothy Frohveign RIP.
Reflection:
In today’s Gospel, Jesus read a passage from Isaiah (61:1) in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. What struck me in this passage was Jesus being sent “to proclaim liberty to captives”. Jesus came to liberate us from sin. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote: “The Church’s real contribution to liberation, which she can never postpone and which is most urgent today, is to proclaim truth in the world, to affirm that God is, that God knows, and that God is as Jesus Christ has revealed Him, and that, in Jesus Christ, He has given us the path of life”. This path of life, if we go back to the readings in the past few days, lead to eternal life. However, it is a path which is narrow like the eye of a needle, unattractive, and difficult so much so that people try to avoid it. Indeed, many are called to walk in this path, but few are chosen to do so. Jesus’ townmates were amazed at His proclamation of God’s Word, but they were expecting Him to do wonders in their hometown for the wrong reasons. They might have thought how a remote town like theirs would become popular and rich if Jesus would perform miracles there. And because the Lord did not give in to their expectations, they did not accept Him. “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
When Jesus came into the synagogue, He did not simply read God’s word from an Old Testament prophet’s writing. He proclaimed it! That is why, He later said “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”. Over these past few months since 23rd March, our parish has been sharing daily Gospel reflections through social media. The parish has received positive feedback from various readers. The reflections have become a source of inspiration especially during this pandemic. May Jesus – God’s Word-made-Flesh – free us from whatever is holding us from having a fruitful relationship with the Father. Doing so, may God’s Word come alive in our daily living!
• What is your favourite verse in the Bible and why?
• How did God’s Word keep you going especially during this pandemic?
• How can you help Jesus in bringing the Good News to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to those oppressed?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Make Your Word come alive in us so that the world would be healed and free to serve You according to the Father’s will. Amen.
Fraternally,
Pietro
(PS: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Fr John for giving me this opportunity to share Gospel reflections with you this month. It has been an honour to serve the parish in this task. God bless you all!)
