Bring Good News To The Poor
Introduction
In today’s first reading Paul calms the fears of the Christian community of Thessalonica. They are expecting the return of Christ soon, in their very lifetime. Now, what about the Christians who have died before the ‘parousia’, are they lost? No, says Paul, this makes no difference. As Christ died and rose from the dead, so those who have died will be raised up by Christ and reign with him. To them – and to us – Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of our faith.
From now on, until Advent begins, we shall read the gospel of Luke, the evangelist who pays special attention to the Holy Spirit, the mercy of God, Jesus’ special concern for the poor (the common people), the role of women in the life of Jesus, and the liturgy. Luke presents his gospel in the form of a journey from Nazareth in Galilee to Jerusalem. Today we hear about the beginning of the so-called public life of Jesus, his program set for him by the Spirit (of the Lord). He announces salvation as starting “today” with his teaching and working among the people. For us too, the time of grace is today, in our time, with the Lord working and living among us now.
1 Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13
R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. R.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens. R.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult. R.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy. R.
Alleluia: cf. Luke 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Commentary
There is a note of consternation in both readings today. The Thessalonians expected the imminent return of the Lord in glory. The rapture. Not only did this not occur, but some of the faithful were dying before the return. The people of Nazareth, while impressed with Jesus’ insights, wanted him to perform the wonders there that he had performed elsewhere. In reply, Jesus cites two examples from the Old Testament in which the prophets’ wonders had been performed not for their fellow Israelites but for foreigners.
The passage from Isaiah that Jesus read in the synagogue speaks of Yahweh’s definitive action in the world as alleviating the pain of the unfortunate. The Messianic age. Good news for the poor, freedom for captives, and sight for the blind. In fact, the miracles of Jesus are never done for display, but only in the interest of rendering assistance. But even at that, Jesus states that no prophet wins acceptance in his home town.
How true it is. When we want to make an important point or shed light on a major controversy, we look for a celebrated speaker from out of town. And, all too often, we recognize that the same point could have been made just as effectively by someone close at hand. In addition, when a prophetic voice is raised by someone close at hand, it is often not taken seriously.
The truth, when spoken honestly and candidly, does not have to be varnished. Let our conscience be our guide. If the speaker has the truth on his side, the speaker’s origins make no difference. Let the truth be our guide. And it is the truth that will set us free.
Blessing
Today, with Jesus alive among us in our community, we should also be ready to say with Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. He sends us to bring good news to the poor and liberty to captives.” May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!