Just a word before we go...Third Sunday in Ordinary Time...January 23, 2022

Imagine for a moment that you were in the synagogue that day when Jesus read from 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.” You would have been listening intently, as did all who were present. You and those among whom you were sitting would have recognized the words from Isaiah, and have known that they referred to the Messiah who was to come, sometime far into the future.

But then, Jesus rolled up the scroll, handed it to the attendant, and announced, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” What would you be thinking? Would his words resonate in your heart? Or would you be wondering where this son of Joseph the carpenter came up with this idea? We don’t hear what the audiencewas thinking, but they must have been startled by the claim that the power of God had appeared in the present; that the Kingdom of God was among them; that God had broken into their lives that day. In his assertion that the prophecy was fulfilled by his presence among them, Jesus claimed his identity and his mission in this life. What was true for Jesus is so often true for us. In fact, we hear from St. Paul today that we are the Body of Christ!

Pope Francis declared a few years ago that this third Sunday in Ordinary Time would be dedicated to the celebration, study and spreading of the Word of God. Our readings today especially invite us to claim one or several verses from the Scriptures to make our own, to guide us as we travel through our lives...to restore hope when it is in short supply; to help us remember who we are and whose we are when we lose our way; to remind us of our gifts and how we might use them to give leaven to the world around us; to be our moral compass when we are struggling with decisions; to inspire us to heal, to offer mercy and compassion to a world in need.

That’s a heavy burden to place on the Scriptures, but they are up to the challenge. They are, after all, the Word of God. Jesus recognized their power, and so should we, as we turn to them to claim our true identity and our mission in life, to transform our world into the Kingdom of God.