After Epiphany - Thursday, 9 January 2025
1 John 4:19-5:4; Luke 4:14-22a
Homily
After Matthew on Monday and Mark on Tuesday and Wednesday, today Luke tells us something about the beginnings of Jesus' ministry.
In Chapter 3, Luke described Jesus' baptism and how, when Jesus entered the water, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard: "You are my beloved Son". Then, at the beginning of Chapter 4, it says that Jesus, filled with the Spirit, crossed the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the Desert, where He spent 40 days and 40 nights. Then, ‘with the power of the Spirit in Him’, He returned to Galilee and began to preach in the synagogue. Then, one day, He went to His hometown, Nazareth, on the Sabbath, and got up to read. And He read the text: "The Spirit of the Lord has anointed Me..."
By then saying ‘This text is being fulfilled this very day as you listen’, Jesus is announcing that the Messiah has come. He does not yet present himself as this Messiah. But a little later, when John's disciples came to ask Him, "Are you the one who is to come...", He replied, "Look at what you see: the crippled walk, the deaf hear, etc.".
Here, then, is the sign of the works of the Messiah, the works for which the Spirit was given to Him: His mission was to bring the good news to the poor, to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the Lord's year of favor.
These are the works of the Spirit. We also received the Spirit on the day of our Baptism and Confirmation. Our mission is also to spread love - a very concrete love - around us, starting with those closest to us, those with whom we live. This was also John's message in the first reading.