Saturday, January 29, 2022

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.

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Gospel Acclamation: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

These words originally appear in Isaiah 61:1. God's Servant declares that He has been anointed to spread the message of God to those who need it most and to free people held in captivity.

In Luke 4:18, Jesus applies these words to Himself. He is in the synagogue in His hometown at Nazareth, and He has been chosen to read from the Scriptures. He knows exactly what He will read, and when the attendant hands Him the scroll of Isaiah, He quickly rolls it to this passage.

Imagine the sound of Jesus' voice as He reads Isaiah's words. It is a voice of authority and confidence. These are the words of God spoken by the Word of God even though the people in the synagogue do not realize this.

All are silent when Jesus finishes. They know that something remarkable has just happened, but they do not understand what it is. They have never heard Scripture proclaimed like this before. Jesus looks around at them all as they stare at Him and declares, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Servant of God so mysteriously prophesied by Isaiah is right in front of the people in that synagogue at Nazareth. Most do not recognize Him.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Gospel Acclamation: The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

God has called us through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read this acclamation slowly a couple times, and let it sink in. We are called to possess the glory of Jesus. We are called to share in the divine life of God. We are called to be children of God, members of His divine family, participators in the covenant, heirs to the Kingdom.

We receive this call through the Gospel, through Divine Revelation in writing but also in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as we enter into intimacy with Him.

How, then, do we answer this call to glory? Do we read and reflect on Scripture? Do we pray? Do we repent of our sins and ask for God's mercy? Do we embrace the sacraments? Do we welcome Jesus into our hearts in the Eucharist? Do we reach out for intimacy with Him?

We are called to glory, and this glory will find its fulfillment in Heaven when we see God face to face.

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Gospel Acclamation: The Baptism of the Lord

The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered: This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.

As Jesus comes up out of the waters of the Jordan River, the heavens open up; a dove descends upon Jesus; and the Father's voice rings out. Here we have a portrait of the Blessed Trinity. The dove represents the Holy Spirit. God the Father speaks, identifying Jesus as His beloved Son. Jesus stands there, dripping wet, fully human yet also fully God.

In your imagination, put yourself on the bank of the Jordan witnessing this scene. What do you see? What do you hear? Are you startled? Afraid? Hopeful? Confused? What are you thinking as you look at Jesus and see the dove and hear the mysterious voice ringing out above you?

Now ask yourself: Do you obey the Father? Do you recognize Jesus as the beloved Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God-and-man? Do you listen to Him? Do you seek to know Him and to follow His perfect will for your life? Do you allow the Holy Spirit and God's grace to descend upon you and fill you? Are you also the Father's beloved child?

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Gospel Acclamation: Epiphany

We saw His star at its rising and have come to do Him homage.

The words of the magi in today's Gospel Acclamation invite us to notice the “stars” in our own lives, stars that point the way to Christ. They are all around. All we must do is look and recognize and follow.

We have the stunningly bright star of the Mass in which we receive Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist. It is surrounded by the glowing stars of the other sacraments through which we receive the grace of God.

The star of Sacred Scripture shines with an almost blinding brilliance, drawing us in, encouraging us to savor and study and reflect upon every word. The star of Sacred Tradition joins its light to the star of Sacred Scripture, allowing us to pass even more deeply into the realm of Divine Revelation.

The saints and angels form a galaxy of beauty as each points to Jesus in a unique way, and the star of our Blessed Mother gleams more radiantly than all.

We, too, can become stars, shining the light of Christ to all those we meet, allowing His effulgence to pass through us to the world that all may come to do Him homage.