The works of a Messiah

Monday, September 02, 2013 22nd Week in
Ordinary Time  First Reading:  1 Thes 4: 13-18   Gospel Reading: Lk 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?” (…)
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated  Life Experience)
The passage from Isaiah quoted in today’s Gospel enumerate the achievements verifying the identity of a Messiah, namely, Good-News proclamation to the poor, restoration of freedom to captives, announcement of a year of mercy to sinners, comforting the oppressed and empowering the blind with sight. The initials of these five form the acronym of grace. This coincidence is meaningful to us because truly the works of a Messiah are springs of grace for the human race.
It was Jesus himself who read this passage from Isaiah before an unsuspecting crowd. To the surprise of all Jesus concluded the reading with these words: “Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen.” There was an adverse reaction from the crowd. Jesus was their neighbor and could not have been serious in his indirect claim that he was the Messiah.
These words, however, challenge us to bring to life the five works that identify the Messiah. We continue the Proclamation of the Good news if we back up our religiosity with works of charity. We restore freedom to modern slaves of technology by reviving the values central to Christianity. We announce a year of mercy to a generation that has lost the sense of sin – where corruption is justified under the so-called power of the purse. We bring comfort to the oppressed by seeing to it that we are not part of the system that perpetuates injustice. We empower those who are blind to values and morals by remaining loyal to the teachings of the Church.
May the ‘grace’ that Christ brought to the world continue to flow through our lives of witnessing. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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