THE MESSIANIC MISSION:
BRINGING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR
Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
A Franciscan was assigned to be guide to Mother Teresa on her visit to Australia. Thrilled at the prospect of being close to this great woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from her. Although he was constantly near her, he never managed to say one word to mother Teresa.
Tour over, she was to fly to New Guinea. In desperation, the friar told her: “If I pay my own fare, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?” Mother Teresa asked: “You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea?”
“Yes,” he replied eagerly. She said: “Then give that money to the poor. You’ll learn more from that than anything I can tell you.”
Mother Teresa understood that Jesus’ ministry was to the poor. This is the thrust of today’s gospel.
The Gospel describes the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry with his inaugural sermon in his hometown. He entered the synagogue, stood up to read, unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and found the passage about the “anointed one”. He was searching for this passage! He read two verses (Isaiah 61:1-2) and delivered probably the shortest homily in history: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”!
With this loaded one-liner, Jesus announces his mission. He is the “anointed one” whom God has sent to bring good news to the poor. The second verse makes explicit this content of this good news: to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Right through his gospel, Luke will present Jesus bringing the good news to the poor. Several events/parables found only in Luke’s gospel—restoring to life the son of the widow of Naim, forgiving the “sinful woman” in Simon the Pharisee’s house, healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the cure of the lepers, the encounter with Zacchaeus—are instances of this mission.
Jesus’ mission is our mission as individuals and as a community. Through baptism and confirmation, the spirit of the Lord is upon us. We, too, are called and sent to proclaim the good news to the poor… using the many gifts that God has given us as individuals and as a church as St Paul describes in the second reading.
How will I proclaim the good news to the (materially, spiritually, emotionally…) poor and broken-hearted today? In what way can I free the captives? When will I be able to say: “this scripture is fulfilled”?
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