The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me

1 Jn 4:19-5:4, Lk. 4:14-22. Nowhere else, except during the Last Supper, does Jesus so clearly express His purpose in life as in the manifesto at His home-town, Nazareth. When He was called to the rostrum to read from the text of Prophet Isaiah, He read out words of inspiration and guidance. This manifesto sums up exactly what He intends to achieve, as a preacher and healer: "The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives...to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour."

Jesus told them in a nutshell what would be His future life-work. He would proclaim the grace of God, the Father’s mercy towards all, especially to those who were usually neglected, the poor, the captives, the blind and disabled, the downtrodden. However, the post-script to this Good News was that miracles would be rare and unpredictable. This was not well received by His neighbours. By the time He finished speaking they were ready to throw Him down over the edge of a cliff. It seems as if Jesus’ vision of God was so big for them to comprehend. He challenges our image of God who has the power to transform us, enrich us in our poverty, bring us freedom where we were captive, enlighten our blindness, restore our sense of belonging to God, regardless of our past.

May the Lord make His love perfect in us by our total surrender and obedience to the will of the Father, may we receive liberation from our sins and find our way to eternal life! Amen!! Good morning and have a glorious day!!!