“to bring glad tidings to the poor.”
The readings for the third Sunday speak of the return of a kingdom. The first reading comes from the book of Nehemiah where the people of God hear the proclamation of the divine law after their return from the Babylonian exile.[i] “The Gospel gives us another proclamation of the word, more modest in its external form, but in reality infinitely more solemn…Jesus opened the book of Isaiah and read – certainly not by chance – the passage that concerned his mission: ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…’”[ii] “These phrases, according to Luke (vv. 18-19), are his first messianic declaration. They are followed by the actions and words known through the Gospel. By these actions and words Christ makes the Father present among men”[iii].
Why is Jesus allowed to speak in the synagogue? It was custom for the president to invite someone up who was well versed in the Scriptures to address one of the readings; the book of the Law, the Pentateuch, and another from the Prophets. Sometimes a volunteer would be allowed to give the address, which probably happen in Jesus’ case.[iv]
Who is called to this kingdom? “Everyone is called to enter the kingdom…To enter it, one must first accept Jesus’ word…”[v] His word is the word we hear in today’s gospel reading when he reads from the book of Isaiah. 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. In the Baptism of the Lord, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form, now we are told what will happen because the Spirit of the Lord is upon Christ. Do we accept the words of Christ given below?
Jesus will bring glad tidings – Do we accept the good news of Jesus Christ, the Gospel? We can read the Gospel daily as given to us by the readings of the Catholic Church. At the least we are obligated to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Days of obligation to listen attentively to the Gospel. These glad tidings increase in us the theological virtue of Hope. In a world wrapped up in sad tidings, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[vi] Saint Paul is quoting the prophet Isaiah who says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation…”[vii]
Proclaim liberty to captives – Jesus liberates both physical and spiritual captivity. In the intercessions of Liturgy of the Hours we pray, “You [Jesus] made captive our captivity, to our brothers who are enduring bodily or spiritual chains, grant the freedom of the sons of God.”[viii] Do we allow Jesus and trust Jesus to liberate us from spiritual and physical captivity?
Recovery of sight from the Blind – Jesus, the light of the world, enables us to see clearly. When we have deprived our soul of the light of Christ and begin to live in the darkness and shadows of death, it is Jesus Himself that is our recovery. This is why Saint Zachariah says, “In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”[ix] The imagery of “the shadow of death” is powerful. If we were walking on a sunny day and we suddenly see a shadow of a person appear near our own shadow, we would know that a person is near us. Those who dwell in the shadow of death, means that death is near. Humanity was in the “shadow of death”, eternal death. This eternal death or hell is described in the gospels as eternal darkness. It is Christ who offers us eternal light, eternal life. Each Sunday night in Liturgy of the Hours we are reminded of our recovery from blindness, and the hope we have of eternal life and light. “They shall see the Lord face to face and bear his name on their foreheads. The night shall be no more. They will need no light from lamps or the sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever.”[x]
The oppressed go free – This verse goes along with the liberty to the captives. In the Gospel of John the descendants of Abraham (the Jews) ask Jesus, “How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” “Jesus answered them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free.”[xi] By our baptism we are made sons and daughters of God. We now have a right to heaven, and a right to remain in the household of God. The household of God on earth is the Church, established by Jesus Christ himself; when we sin we separate our self from Christ and His Body the Church. Freedom comes by remaining in the household of God, by living out our Baptismal vows of rejecting sin and embracing the Gospel. We are reminded of this call to reject evil and pursue good each Ash Wednesday when ashes are placed on our foreheads, but we are also reminded of this basic truth at every Mass, when we pray the Confiteor (reject evil, repent from sin) and profess the Creed (pursue good, embrace the Gospel).
Proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord – Isaiah says, “Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you…”[xii] Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians quotes Isaiah and says, “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”[xiii]
Who does the kingdom belong to? The Catechism teaches us, “The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to ‘preach good news to the poor’; he declares them blessed, for ‘theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To them – the ‘little ones’ – the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom.”[xiv] The poor in spirit are those that realized that they need God. Just as the physically poor know that they need food, drink, clothes, shelter, etc., the poor in spirit know that they need glad tidings, liberty, sight, and salvation. What is the blessing for the poor in spirit? Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”[xv]
What does the poor refer to? The poor Jesus refers to both spiritual poverty and to physical poverty.
Spiritual poverty; sin. To bring the goods means to bring freedom from our poverty of sin. God has taken great pity on us. He has come to free us from the blindness and oppression of sin.[xvi] St. John Chrysostom teaches, “Captivity can be felt when it proceeds from physical enemies, but the spiritual captivity referred to here is worse: sin exerts a more severe tyranny, evil takes control and blinds those who lend it obedience; from this spiritual prison Jesus Christ rescued us.”[xvii] In scripture Satan is referred to as a strong man who has held us (humanity) captive. Jesus says, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man?”[xviii] The house of Satan is the world and his property is humanity, which he held in captivity by original sin. It is Jesus, the Word, made Flesh that enters the house (world), ties up the strong man (through His passion, death, and resurrection), and steals back the property (humanity) that is rightly God’s from the beginning.
Physical poverty and/or suffering. Christ came into this world to heal our bodies and souls. We read throughout the gospels of Jesus healing people. “Similarly, the Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering Founder. She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ.”[xix] It is Christ through His passion and death, who teaches all of humanity how to suffer. He teaches us the redemptive power of suffering. When the Christian who is connected to Christ, connect his suffering with that of Christ, suffering becomes redemptive and salvific in nature. “When God sends us any cross, or sickness, or pain, we should say, ‘Lord, you will be done. I take this for my sins.’”[xx]
Search: You did it to Me
Who does Jesus invite to the table of the kingdom? Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom. “He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father’s boundless mercy for them and the vast ‘joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.’ The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life ‘for the forgiveness of sins.’”[xxi]
If Jesus came to end sin and suffering, why is there still suffering? It is true Jesus cured many souls by casting out demons and healing many sick, but He did not cure every sick person. Moreover, Jesus did not eliminate suffering for everyone nor for Himself. Sin, which entered into this world by man, has a permanent place in this world. However, Christ shows us the way to take suffering and make it have redemptive value when we unite ourselves to His sufferings. “Therefore, Christ worked miracles not so much to release the people concerned from suffering, as to demonstrate that he had a God-given mission to bring everyone eternal redemption.”[xxii] The Church, founded by Christ carries on His mission.
How does the Church carry on the mission of Christ? The Church carries on by making disciples of all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”[xxiii]
How do we carry on Christ’s mission? We are invited to come into the kingdom and we seek to help others into the kingdom. The Our Father prayer with the words, “Thy kingdom come” is a part of nearly every liturgy in the Church, and should serve as a reminder of our own call to enter the kingdom as well as the call to invite others into the kingdom. However, we are asked to do a radical thing: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything.[xxiv] We must be willing to give up everything for Jesus in order to carry on His mission. “We are obligated to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, the promise of Christ’s continual assistance to his Church. One cannot be faithful to our Lord if one neglects these supernatural demands – to receive instruction in Christian faith and morality and to make use of the sacraments. It is the same instructions Jesus gives to the Church.”[xxv] “…Let us reject any purely naturalistic view that fails to value the supernatural role of divine grace. Let us reject materialistic opinions that exclude spiritual values from human life. Let us equally reject any secularizing theory which attempts to equate the aims of the Church with those of earthly States, distorting its essence, institutions and activities into something similar to those of temporal society.”[xxvi]
[i] cf. Divine Intimacy, Vol. I pg. 173
[ii] Divine Intimacy, Vol. I pg. 173
[iii] John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 3
[iv] cf. The Navarre Bible: St. Luke pg. 74
[v] CCC 543
[vi] Romans 10:5
[vii] Isaiah 52:7
[viii] Tuesday Vespers – Week I
[ix] Liturgy of the Hours – Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah)
[x] Revelation 22:4-5
[xi] John 8:33-34
[xii] Isaiah 49:8
[xiii] 2 Corinthians 6:2-3
[xiv] CCC 544
[xv] Matthew 5:3
[xvi] cf. The Navarre Bible: St. Luke pg. 74
[xvii] Catena Aurea
[xviii] Matthew 12:29
[xix] Lumen Gentium, 8
[xx] Penny Catechism – Daily Spiritual Exercises
[xxi] CCC 545
[xxii] The Navarre Bible: St. Luke pg. 75
[xxiii] Mt. 28:19-20
[xxiv] cf. CCC 546
[xxv] The Navarre Bible: St. Luke pg. 75
[xxvi] J. Escriva, Homily on the Supernatural Aim of the Church