Thursday January 6

Thursday After Epiphany

God’s Word Fulfilled Today

Speaking in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus says that God’s word is fulfilled today, that he proclaims and is the good news of joy to everyone.

Similarly, Jesus proclaims to us today in our Eucharistic assemblies the good news of God’s liberating love, and he is himself that good news, for he is present among us. This Eucharist is for us here today the moment of grace. The Spirit of Jesus rests on us now and gives us the capacity to speak and to be his message of hope, joy and love to our neighbor.

 

First Reading: 1 John 4:19–5:4

We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.

Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.

 

Gospel: Luke 4:14-22a

Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure.

He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was a youngster?”

 

Prayer

Lord God, loving Father,
here in this Eucharistic assembly
you let your Son speak to us today
his stirring word of hope and joy.
Pour out on us the Spirit of Jesus,
let him open us to the word of your Son
and to his living presence,
that we too may go out to our brothers and sisters
to speak to them his liberating word,
to be his healing presence,
and to be grace to all whom we encounter,
on account of your Son in our midst,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Preach the Gospel at all times

Jesus began his preaching ministry in Galilee and gained immense popularity. Now he returns to his home in Nazareth and is in the synagogue there. He must have been a bit nervous. Familiar faces can calm our fears, but they also can cause us additional pressures! Jesus did not disappoint the hometown folks and they were amazed at his wisdom and his understanding of the scripture.

Let us ask ourselves a question: After attending the daily Mass or at least the Sunday Mass, do I remember the passages from the Word of God that I have listened to? How much of the homily of the priest can I recall? Truth hurts!… It is a reality check both for the priests and for the faithful. Pope Francis repeatedly reminded the priests that an unprepared homily that does not touch lives of the faithful is an abuse of homily. And the Word must be meditated upon to touch our lives. Jesus, after reading the scripture, preached the shortest homily: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And then he went and lived what he read.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Jesus presents himself as God’s anointed one and accepts the task of proclaiming the gospel to the poor. The homily he preached was a one-liner in words, but more through his life and actions. That is why St. Francis of Assisi had said: “Preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary, use words.”

Jesus’ mission statement contains a list that I believe can help to revive and revise our New Year resolutions for 2022. Let reading and meditation of the Word of God be added to our resolutions for this year! How am I to proclaim an year acceptable to the Lord? What changes do I need to make that will promote love, faith and justice? The first reading gives a gentle reminder: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

 

Video available on Youtube: Preach the Gospel at all times