Luke 4:16-30

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Psalm 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,

and went according to his custom

into the synagogue on the sabbath day.

He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

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.

Rolling up the scroll,

he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,

and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them,

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

And all spoke highly of him

and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”

He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,

‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place

the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”

And he said,

“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.

Indeed, I tell you,

there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah

when the sky was closed for three and a half years

and a severe famine spread over the entire land.

It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,

but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.

Again, there were many lepers in Israel

during the time of Elisha the prophet;

yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

When the people in the synagogue heard this,

they were all filled with fury.

They rose up, drove him out of the town,

and led him to the brow of the hill

on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.

But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, send and pour forth your Spirit upon me. Anoint me with the oil of gladness so that I may proclaim the Gospel of your Kingdom and your salvation to all those I meet through my words and actions today.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Gospel of Salvation: Today, we begin to read from the Gospel according to Luke at daily mass. This Gospel will bring us to the season of Advent. Each of the four Gospels presents a unique, but complementary portrait of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the New Moses and as the one who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies, especially those about the Kingdom of God. Mark identifies Jesus as the suffering Messiah and Son of God, who calls his disciples to follow him on the way to Jerusalem. Luke emphasizes Jesus as the Universal Savior and his concern for the poor, the humble, the outcast, and the lowly. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ message of mercy and salvation. We are privileged today to hear how Jesus preached in the synagogues of Galilee and the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth. We can sit with the crowd and hear Jesus proclaim God’s word from the prophet Isaiah. We have a similar experience at every Mass. We sometimes hear a passage from the Old Testament and then from the Gospel, and we can hear, “Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

2. The Inauguration of the Great Jubilee: The passage from Isaiah that Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue of Nazareth is highly significant. What Isaiah foretells is the coming of the great Jubilee Year. This is what Isaiah means when he refers to the “year acceptable to the Lord.” The Jubilee year was to be celebrated every 49 years in Israel. It was a time of mercy and forgiveness. Based on the prophecy of Daniel about a time of salvation and mercy that would happen 490 years after the exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, some in Israel began to formulate the idea that the 10^th Jubilee would be a great Jubilee and that the Messiah would inaugurate it. What Jesus does in the synagogue in Nazareth and possibly in other synagogues of Galilee is announce that he is inaugurating the Great Jubilee, and this means, for those who can understand it, that he is the Messiah. At first, the people were amazed at Jesus’ words, but then they began to doubt that the hometown kid could be the Messiah. Moreover, when Jesus hinted that merciful salvation would be extended to the Gentiles, the people of Nazareth reacted very negatively. They tried to throw Jesus off the hill of Nazareth, but he confidently walked through them and left his hometown to continue his mission in the other towns of Nazareth.

3. The Resurrection from the Dead: One of the main points of the First Letter to the Thessalonians was to address the question about the fate of those who die before the second coming of Jesus. Paul teaches that those who have “fallen asleep” in Christ will rise at the return of Jesus. Those who are still living and are alive in Christ will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus. The Christian community in Thessalonica has nothing to fear about their loved ones who die before the end of the world. We also have no reason to fear death or the death of our loved ones who die in Christ. We not only have the gift of faith, but also the gift of hope. By faith, we believe that Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, and will return to raise the dead to life. By hope, we are confident that if we die “in Christ,” we will be raised to eternal life.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, unlike the people of Nazareth, I do not reject you or your message. You are everything I need and desire. Help me to understand your word more deeply and live according to your word each day.

Living the Word of God: How have I continued to live the Jubilee Year? Is it time to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation again to experience God’s mercy?