In today’s Gospel Jesus does something you and I do each Sunday. Jesus went to worship his Heavenly Father on the Sabbath. He read from the Word of God and preached a noticeably short homily. The synagogue service began with Hymns and Psalms. Then there was a reading from the Torah, one of the first 5 books of the Scripture. After the reading from the Torah there is a reading from one of the prophets. Jesus is the reader for this second reading. He is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and turns to chapter 61 and reads:
“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.”
Jesus’ homily is short but also incredibly challenging: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus claims that as God’s anointed, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and his mission is to proclaim the Gospel (“glad tidings”) to all but especially to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed. Jesus proclaims “a year acceptable to the Lord.” Jesus’ words and actions in the rest of the Gospel will “fulfill” these words of the prophet Isaiah. The Lord God has sent his Son into the world to heal the broken hearted and to overwhelm people with God’s love and mercy. Jesus sees this Scripture passage as his “mission statement.” This mission statement of Jesus is echoed in one of the Prefaces of Mass:
“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father of mercies and faithful God.
For you have given us Jesus Christ, your Son, as our Lord and Redeemer. He always showed compassion for children and for the poor, for the sick and for sinners, and he became a neighbor to the oppressed and the afflicted. By word and deed, he announced to the world that you are our Father and that you care for all your sons and daughters.” (Preface, Eucharistic Prayer IV for Various Needs).
These words of Isaiah are also “fulfilled in our hearing” as Jesus is “present in our midst…when he opens the Scriptures and breaks the bread.” (Eucharistic Prayer IV).
Let us rejoice in our year of favor as Jesus brings us glad tidings and healing as he shows us God’s compassion and love.