Gospel Acclamation: Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.

Last week we talked about Jesus' proclamation of these words in His hometown of Nazareth at the beginning of His public ministry. This week we need to apply these words to ourselves, for we are all sent to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.

We can, of course, bring glad tidings to the poor by meeting the physical needs of people who are materially poor and captive in their poverty. This is extremely important. We can support or even volunteer at a local food shelf or homeless shelter. We can contribute to the many excellent charities that are working to combat poverty across the globe. This is all excellent.

But there is another group of poor people we also cannot neglect. These are the spiritually poor, the ones who lack faith in God, the ones who are mixed up in their views of the world, the ones who do and promote evil. These people are horribly impoverished, and their poverty is more serious than material poverty. Their poverty may lead them to turn their backs on eternal life. It is truly holding them captive.

This is why we must bring glad tidings to the spiritually poor. We must proclaim the Gospel by our words and actions. We must not be afraid to speak the truth, to proclaim Jesus Christ whether people accept our message or not. We must answer questions, enter into debates, and be ready, as St. Peter says, to account for the hope that is within us. We must sometimes correct, sometimes practice “tough love,” sometimes even offend people. But we might just plant a seed in their minds, an extremely valuable seed that someday might open their hearts and minds to God.