READINGS:   Nehemiah 8: 2-4. 5-6. 8-10   /   Psalm 19: 8. 9. 10. 15   /   1 Corinthians 12: 12-30   /

LUKE 1: 1-4 – 4: 14-21

 

HIS WORD…“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.”  TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE PASSAGE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.

my words…In the First Reading, EZRA the priest-scribe proclaimed the law (the Word of God) and interpreted and explained it well before the Assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand. And they understood it well and all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law through Ezra. And Ezra said to them, “For today is holy to the Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” (Neh 8:8-10).

In the Gospel, Jesus returned home to Nazareth and in the synagogue He proclaimed the Word of God contained in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, where it said, “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.” And Jesus did the shortest but most powerful sermon in the world when He said to them, “TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE PASSAGE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.” (Lk 1:21). What is Jesus doing here? In contrast to the 22-worded preaching of the priest-scribe Ezra in the First Reading, here Jesus the high priest preached a 9-worded sermon, a powerful one, as a preaching of actualization and fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. The promise of God is fulfilled in Him, hence a jubilee year acceptable to the Lord.

Brothers and Sisters, in the Philippines, year 2021 is a Great Jubilee for us marking the 500 years of Christianity in our land. It is indeed a great blessing for us Filipinos acceptable to the Lord. Today opens the week-long celebration of the 51^stInternational Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu with the theme: “Christ in you, our Hope of Glory. The Eucharist: Source and Goal of the Church’s Mission.” This marks the 4^th year of our 9-year preparations for the Great Jubilee 2021. We are indeed blest with the Eucharistic Jesus at the beginning of the year 2016. Today also is National Bible Sunday with the theme: “God’s Word: Hope for the Family, Strength of the Nation.” In this celebration, we are invited and called to deepen our knowledge of the Word of God to strengthen our family and build a strong nation. The sacred pages of the Bible are indeed the source of our strength and of our family and of our nation.

All of the above-mentioned celebrations are indicators of the presence of Jesus among us; He is the promised-fulfilled Messiah anointed by the Lord, He has come to us and to our country for almost 500 years planting the seed of faith to build the strong Church that Jesus founded on the Apostles, and He made His preaching and HIS WORD in the Bible as the source of strength for us, for our families, and for our nation.

MAY THE WORD OF GOD BRING US TO EVERLASTING LIFE… (By Fr. Julius C. Lupot)