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3rd Sunday Ordinary Time - 23/1/2022
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Being agents of Liberation by freeing ourselves.
Both today’s first reading, taken from Nehemiah, and Luke’s Gospel, describe the public reading of Sacred Scripture which challenges the hearers to make a “fresh beginning” with a new outlook. In the first reading, after rebuilding the Temple and restoring the city, Ezra leads the people in a “Covenant renewal” ceremony. Returning to the Temple after many years of exile, with the active assistance of a few Levite helper-priests, Ezra reads and interprets the Law to the Jews gathered before the Water Gate from early in the morning till mid-day on the first day of the Jewish year.
Today’s Gospel describes how, on a Sabbath, Jesus stood before the people in synagogue of his hometown, Nazareth, reading and interpreting what Isaiah had prophesied about the Messiah. The Jews had only one main Temple, located in Jerusalem and used for offering sacrifices to God and celebrating the major feasts. Throughout the rest of the country, however, there were synagogues, one for every ten families or more, where the community, particularly the men, could offer Sabbath prayers and study the Scriptures. It was customary for the men to sit in the central part of the synagogue, where the scrolls were kept. The women and children sat in a separate area on the side of the synagogue. It was the Jewish custom for the reader to stand while reading, and to sit down while teaching (Mt 13:54; Mk 6:1). The Sabbath prayer liturgy began with “Shema’’ prayer followed by the recital of the “Eighteen Blessings,” praising and thanking God and then the seven readings from the Hebrew Scripture. The first four were from the Law (the Torah or the Pentateuch) followed by explanations given by the rabbi who was the teacher of the Law. The second set of three readings, taken from the prophets, could be read, and interpreted by any circumcised male over thirty years of age. It was in this second capacity that Jesus read and preached on the passage from Isaiah (61:1-2a). Since Jesus did not belong to Aaron’s family, he could not be a Jewish priest. But as a popular lay teacher, he was given the chance to read and explain the portion from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. Naturally, the people of his native place were curious to hear from this carpenter-turned-prophet who had grown up among them and had worked miracles throughout Galilee. People of his village were present at Cana some 7 miles from Nazareth where he had turned water into wine at a wedding feast. Luke reports that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,” Jesus said, “because He has anointed me…” This “power of the Spirit” was essential for Jesus to complete his mission.
As members of Christ’s Mystical Body, we share in this mission of Jesus to give liberation to everyone who would listen to his “Good News,” accept it, and put it into practice. However, even after we have chosen to believe in Jesus, we still can be in bondage. We are captives of sin, and only Christ can set us free. We are often blinded by our evil habits, addictions, and our sheer focus just on financial security. Pride and prejudice can make us blind to the needs of the less fortunate, prompting us to fear and avoid them, rather than to love and help them. We can also be blind to the presence of God within ourselves and others. We are often not free to listen to a lonely, heart-broken neighbor. We can be prisoners of materialism and consumerism, chained to pleasure, power, money and control of everyone and everything in our world. Accordingly, we need to be freed and raised to a higher, richer level of life. Once we receive true liberation from Christ, we need to share it with those we encounter in our daily lives — in our families, communities, parishes, and workplaces.