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Today, 27th of September, we celebrate
Saint Vincent of Paul
1 Cor 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the
mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of
wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in
weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and
my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith
might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Ps 119:97,98,99,100,101,102
R. Lord, I love your commands.
How I love your law, O LORD!
It is my meditation all the day.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Your command has made me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
R./ Lord, I love your commands.
I have more understanding than all my teachers
when your decrees are my meditation.
R./ Lord, I love your commands.
I have more discernment than the elders,
because I observe your precepts.
R./ Lord, I love your commands.
From every evil way I withhold my feet,
that I may keep your words.
R./ Lord, I love your commands.
From your ordinances I turn not away,
for you have instructed me.
R./ Lord, I love your commands.
Luke 4:16-30
When Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and announce the Lord's year of mercy."
Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down, while the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them, "Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen."
All agreed with him and were lost in wonder, while he kept on speaking of the grace of God. Nevertheless they asked, "Who is this but Joseph's son?" So he said, "Doubtless you will quote me the saying: Doctor, heal yourself! Do here in your town what they say you did in Capernaum."
Jesus added, "No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian."
On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.
Jesus says that the passage from Isaiah, where the Spirit’s presence is shown in the servant, has just been fulfilled in himself. This gives him the authority to announce the Gospel of salvation because he has the Spirit’s seal. “The Spirit has sent me to heal, to free, to cure, to proclaim salvation.” There’s only one condition for this to happen: there has to be listening. Listening means acceptance. And acceptance makes way for effectiveness. Jesus says, “what you have just heard is fulfilled.” If there’s no listening, he can’t act, because there’s no faith needed to receive grace. All that good can’t be received because the ears are deaf.
And if it’s something as amazing as an announcement of good news, why isn’t it accepted? Why doesn’t anyone want to listen? In this case, the closed-mindedness to the message is because the message is open to everyone; it’s the announcement of universal salvation, not just for the “chosen ones.” Grace is offered to all because the servant is “authorized” for this by the greatest force: the Spirit. Refusing to think about openness to all, and not just to a small elite group. “No one is a prophet in their own land” is another way to define envy: no one who is in the same situation as me can be greater than me. They can’t have a higher position than mine; they can’t have any privilege, much less enjoy the seal of the Spirit. This is a sad situation because it prevents the passage of good and salvation to everyone, including those who consider themselves the chosen ones.
But we can turn this envious dynamic around and think that, in reality, we’re no greater than the Master; but the Master has the Spirit’s sending to heal, to proclaim salvation. And, with him, we have that same mission.
Therefore, listening opens up an unstoppable source of joy and good. Because, by listening, we can enter into that same dynamic of receiving the mission and being sent. We can participate in that same seal of the Spirit. In fact, we already participate through our own Confirmation; but we need more listening, more acceptance, more recognition. Opening our ears allows us to receive the Spirit, the enormous universal grace of God.
Cármen Aguinaco
Paul reminds his Corinthians that he had preached them the simple, uncomplicated message of the crucified Christ. That was a message of faith, not of human wisdom.
Gospel. From now on until Advent begins, we shall read the Gospel of Luke, the evangelist who pays special attention to the Holy Spirit, the mercy of God, Jesus’ special concern for the poor, the role of women in the life of Jesus, and the liturgy. Luke presents his Gospel in the form of a journey from Nazareth in Galilee to Jerusalem. Today, we hear about the beginning of the so-called public life of Jesus, his program set for him by the Spirit. He announces salvation as starting “today” with his teaching and working among the people. For us too, the time of grace is today, in our time, with the Lord working and living among us now.
God, Father of mercy and love,
you let your Son announce to us
that today is the time of grace.
Let his Spirit be upon us today,
that in the poverty of our own hearts
we may hear Jesus’ stirring message,
that blind as we are, he may give us eyes of faith,
and that he may set us free
from the captivity of our fears and selfishness.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
– Lord, give eloquence and courage to our leaders and all teachers in the Church, that they may understand it and proclaim it as Good News of liberation to all, we pray:
– Lord, open our eyes to the miseries of people; make us concerned about those imprisoned in their fears and the grip of injustice, we pray:
– Lord, make us receptive to your word. Free us from banality and fear, our self-security and certainties, we pray:
Lord our God,
it is perhaps easier for us
to accept your Son as our Savior and Lord
than the people who knew him
as the son of Joseph and Mary.
Help us to recognize him here in our midst
in these signs of bread and wine.
Accept this offering of our faith
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God our Father,
through his words and his body,
your Son, Jesus Christ is alive among us.
Fill us with his Holy Spirit,
that we too, with him and in his name,
may bring his Good News to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives,
open the eyes of the blind
and set the downtrodden free.
Let this be to all the time of the grace
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Today, with Jesus alive among us in our community, we should also be ready to say with Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. He sends us to bring Good News to the poor.” May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
