A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (4:14-22)
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,
“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.
(The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!)
Reflection: Jesus is the anointed one!
In the Gospel reading for today, we hear how Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. He proclaimed to the people in Nazareth that “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus fulfilled the prophecy by the Prophet Isaiah by his coming! Jesus came to bring glad tidings to the poor! He is the anointed one! Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives and to set the oppressed free and recovery of sight to the blind! The Messiah has arrived!
Ask ourselves, which category do we fall under? Are we poor in spirit, or experiencing material, housing or food insufficiency?
Are we experiencing oppression from the bullying by others, by coworkers, by our boss, by our classmates or teachers, or by members of our family or friends?
Are we captives to addiction to drugs, to material things that we do not need, are we addicted to social media, or are we addicted oour pride?
Are we experiencing blindness where we are unable to physically see, or are we blinded by our achievements or status, or our intellect? Are we blinded by our pride that we refuse to acknowledge that God commands us to love every single person on this earth as we love ourselves regardless of status or affiliation. Are we currently blinded by our selfishness as we may be making choices that are only beneficial to us or our family without thinking of how it will affect the safety or the needs of others?
These are all hard questions, but nothing is impossible with God. Our Lord Jesus is here with us! He is the anointed one who journeys with everyone daily, knocking on the doors of our hearts when we turn away from him, when we are astray, when we are troubled, when we are blinded by pride or physically blind or ill, even as we face challenges in life.
Call out and pray to our Lord Jesus in all moments of our lives here on earth! Jesus is here to help and guide us through by His presence in all the faithful, and in all creation. He is here with us to see us through this earthly journey until our day comes when he calls us to the peace of His presence in the eternity in His Heavenly Kingdom. Jesus is our king and our God. Jesus is the anointed one!
Action for the Day:
In prayer, acknowledge our Lord Jesus as King and our God, then lift us our concerns in prayer! He knows what we are going through, and how to help us! He “will” answer our prayers and show us the way!
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