If you think religion is just about “do’s and don’ts”; about strict observance of divinely-instituted rules and regulations and punishment for their infractions then spend some time meditating on today’s reading from the Book of Nehemiah. It’s a wonderful and touching story of a liturgical proclamation of the Word of God and people’s response to what they hear. A little background may be necessary.
The people are assembled at the Water Gate in Jerusalem after their disastrous Babylonian exile Ezra is the priest-scribe and Nehemiah the governor. They have gathered the people in an attempt to re-form the nation, not only as a political entity, but also as a community of faith. Hence, the public reading of the Torah, the revelation of God’s will.
To protect themselves from threats the nation made disastrous political alliances. Because they were acting on their own, independently of God, their strategy for survival failed and the Babylonians destroyed the nation, taking the cream of the population — political and religious leaders, educated, young, skilled, etc. into exile. Now, back in their homeland a reconstruction must take place. Under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra they are directed to turn eagerly to the Word of God. Hearing the Word of God will be the source for reform; a means to new life for the community.
Upon hearing the Word the people confess their sin and recommit themselves to their covenant with God. In the Nehemiah passage Ezra the scribe reads and interprets the Word, “… so that all could understand what was read.” Their response to what Ezra read and interpreted for them from the Torah was, “Amen, amen” — the people assent to what they have heard and will try to live by it. Some have described the event as the first Liturgy of the Word. Later, when the Temple was destroyed and the people scattered, they would meet in their synagogues to continue to hear God’s Word and have it interpreted for them by a responsible person selected for the task. (In today’s gospel that is what Jesus is doing: he has been chosen to read and interpret the scriptures.) We pray today for ears opened to what God is saying to us and for a renewed gift of the Spirit so we will be willing to respond to the Word we hear.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is just beginning his ministry. On the feast of the Baptism of the Lord we heard that Jesus was anointed by the Spirit (Luke 3:15-16; 21-22). Today, commenting on the Isaian scriptures, Jesus identifies himself as the one anointed by the Spirit to bring “glad tidings to the poor.” Jesus is announcing the direction his mission is about to take: he will proclaim liberty to those enslaved. While we might “spiritualize” what poverty means in this gospel, it is clear in Jesus’ proclamation that he is reaching out to those in need: they lack life’s basics; are captives, blind (it’s dark in a prison) and oppressed.
Quoting Isaiah, Jesus announces a “year of favor” (“a year acceptable to the Lord”). The people hearing it would know what he was announcing: a Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:13) when, every 50 years, debts would be canceled, slaves set free, lands returned to their original owners and people given a chance to start anew. Whether the Jubilee practice was ever followed among the Israelites we don’t know. But Jesus announces that now Jubilee freedom would become a reality through his words and actions. “Now” — not in some distant future, God’s promise is made flesh in Jesus and the Reign of God made present.
You could feel the charged atmosphere in the synagogue which accompanied Jesus’ words. “….the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.” What has fixed their attention? Using Isaiah’s words, Jesus has claimed the anointing of the Spirit upon himself. Kings were anointed with oil; while Jesus’ anointing comes directly from the Spirit. He is claiming the office of Messiah; the one who will proclaim the arrival of the Reign of God. It’s a Jubilee announcement; the good news that all debts are canceled; past wrongs put aside. The one anointed with the Spirit enables us to be in right relationship with God and one another.
Soon Jesus will call his first disciples (5:1ff) to help him in his mission to “catch people.” That task has also been entrusted to us who have received the same Spirit Jesus had. First, our own sins are forgiven and we are set free. Then, in response to what has been done for us, we set out to proclaim jubilee by our own lives — setting captives free by forgiveness and our raising up the lowly. We don’t know whether Jubilee was actually practiced by the ancients; but through Christ and the Jubilee he has proclaimed over us, we are a Jubilee people.
We hear echoes of the Jubilee proclamation in Pope Francis’ declaring a “Year of Mercy.” He is challenging the whole Church to practice mercy — as an institution and as individuals. It is to be our manner of living. Now, ours is Jesus’ work of mercy, proclaiming by word and action “glad tidings to the poor.” Look around to see with the eyes the Spirit has given us; listen with ears anointed by that Spirit; see and hear the urgent needs of people and, empowered by the Spirit, respond.
Jesus tells his hearers, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Throughout Luke’s gospel the word “Today” appears in key places. At Christmas we heard the angels announce, “Today a Savior is born” ( 2: 11). When Jesus meets Zaccheus he tells him, “Today salvation has come to this house” (19:19). He assures the thief crucified next to him, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” (23:43). The “Today” Jesus announces isn’t only the today of his lifetime; it is our today as well. Luke is reminding us we don’t have to wait for some future time and place for God to come to set us free — it is happening “Today.”
We tend to procrastinate, putting off the necessary changes we must make in our lives. But God can help us do today what we have been putting off tilltomorrow. God doesn’t tell us to take our time making things right in the world. Today is the day of action. Today we too have been anointed to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and freedom for the oppressed. Today we have been sent by Jesus to act justly and mercifully in large and small ways.
THE PROPHET
In a remote village of Galilee called Nazareth, the locals gather in the synagogue one morning to listen to the Word of God. After a few years seeking God in the desert, Jesus returns to the place where he had grown up.
The scene is very important to come to know Jesus and understand well his mission. According to Luke’s account, in this village almost unknown to everyone, Jesus is going to present himself as a prophet of God and explain his plan of action by applying to himself a text of the prophet Isaiah.
After reading the passage Jesus explains it with a single sentence:“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke notes: “The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.” The attention of everyone shifts from the words read to the person of Jesus. What can we today discover if we fix our eyes on him?
Moved by the Spirit of God. The entire life of Jesus is driven, led and directed by the prompting and guidance of the love of God. To believe Jesus is God, is not to profess in theory a dogmatic formula worked out by the Councils. It is to keep discovering in a concrete way, in his words and his actions, his tenderness and his fire, the ultimate Mystery of life we believers call “God”.
The Prophet of God. Jesus was not anointed with olive oil as were kings, to confer on them the power to govern, or high priests to invest them with sacred power. He was “anointed” with the Holy Spirit of God. He does not come to govern or to rule. He is a prophet of God dedicated to freeing life. We will only be able to follow him if we learn to live with his prophetic spirit.
Good News for the poor. His work is Good News for the most marginalized and helpless social class: those who need to hear something good; those despised and forgotten by all. We begin to be like Jesus when our lives, our work, and our love leading to solidarity with the poor is perceived by them as something good.
Dedicated to liberate. He spends his life liberating human beings from every kind of slavery. People see him as one who saves from suffering, oppression and exploitation; the blind experience him as light that frees from meaninglessness and despair; sinners receive him as grace and forgiveness. We follow Jesus when he delivers us from all that enslaves, belittles, or dehumanizes us. We then believe in him as the Savior who leads us to eternal life.
TODAY
“This scripture has been fulfilled.”
People in the time of Jesus had been trained to look to the future, some day in the future, for salvation. Jesus comes and says:” This has been fulfilled today…This passage of scripture refers to me!”
Let’s suggest three ways to discover the everyday grace:
( 1 ) Try to live one day of acceptance. “Have you ever given yourself the opportunity of going through just one day concentrating totally on accepting everyone and making no judgments?” ( Dr. Gerald Jampolsky’s “Love is Letting Go of Fear”).
Everything we think or say or do reacts on us like a boomerang: when we make judgments of others, criticize or attack others, they come back to us. Suspend all judgments, spend one day of acceptance.
( 2 ) Look for the opportunity today, even if today is not quite what you had bargained for. A graduate student had just gotten his first job, he felt – and probably correctly – that was much beneath his talents. He complained to his friend that he didn’t do pencil-pushing. His friend was entirely unsympathetic. He just patted him on the back and said to him, “You know, the world is better place because Michelangelo didn’t say, ’I don’t do ceilings.’ So it is. You go through the Bible and Moses didn’t say, ‘I don’t do rivers’. Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do arks”. Ruth didn’t say, “I don’t do mothers-in-law.” Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do Gentiles.” Mary Magdalene didn’t say, “I don’t do feet.” Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”
( 3 ) At least one day, take time to put things in perspective. Perspective is the long view of today’s grace: a day of acceptance without judgment, a day of opportunity without complaint, a day of perspective without fear.
These three things make the scripture reading fulfilled in our hearing – today.
In a book called, “If I were in charge of the world and other worries,” the reader is invited to see the world through the eyes of a five-or six-year-old little boy. “If I were in charge of the world,” he says, “I’d cancel oatmeal! I’d cancel allergy shots! I would cancel Monday mornings!” If I were in charge of the world,
“There would be brighter night-lights, healthier hamsters and basketball baskets forty-eight inches lower!” “If I were in charge of the world…” You wouldn’t be lonely, you wouldn’t have bedtimes, or ‘Don’t punch your sister! You wouldn’t even have sisters!”
Jesus gives his answer in today’s Gospel. I have been sent to bring the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour!”
Comedian Jerry Lewis said that the best wedding gift he received was a film of the entire wedding ceremony. He says that when things get really bad in his marriage, he can go into a room, close the door, run the film backwards, and walk out a free man.
If some of us are feeling that things are really going bad in our lives right now, Jesus is inviting us to go into a room, close the door, and run the film of our lives backward, so to speak. Go back to the moment he called us into this world…and saw a purpose in our lives that no one else could achieve
IS CHRIST’S WAY OUR WAY?
Before starting to tell us all about Jesus’ activities, the evangelist Luke wants his readers to understand the passion that moved the prophet of Galilee and the goal of all his life. Christians must realize the direction in which the Spirit of God is moving Jesus, so that they can follow Him in his way.
Luke describes in full detail what Jesus does at the synagogue in his village: he stands up, receives the sacred book, and he himself unrolls the scroll in search of a passage of Isaiah, reads a passage, closes the book and sits down. Everyone listens attentively to what Jesus has to say, as he explains the task that God had assigned him to perform.
Surprisingly, the text does not speak about organizing a better religion or creating a more elaborate worship, but about announcing more freedom, more hope, new light and grace to the poor and the downtrodden. This
is what was written: “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” To conclude, he told them: “This text if being fulfilled today even as you listen.”
The Spirit of God was in Jesus to send Him to the poor, directing all his life towards those most in need, the downtrodden and the oppressed. We, as followers of Christ, must walk the same way. Such is the road that God,
Incarnate in Jesus, wants all of us humans to take. The last and the poorest of men must be the first to experience the dignity, freedom and happiness that God wants, already now, for all his sons and daughters.
You should never forget that. The “option for the poor” is not an invention of some theologians of the XX century, nor is it a conclusion drawn from Vatican II. It is the “option” of the Spirit of God that animated everything in Jesus’ life, and that all His followers must make it a reality in human history. As Pope Paul VI said, it is the duty of the Church “to make liberation a reality, and make it total.”
We cannot claim to be Christ’s messengers and not seek support for
the poorest and show solidarity with the downtrodden. If what we do and preach within the Church of Jesus is not perceived as something good and liberating by those who suffer most, whose Gospel are we preaching? Are we really following Christ’s way? What “option” have we chosen? In other words, can we really feel comfortable? Do we honestly believe to be following Jesus’ way?