Today the Church celebrates the Sunday of the Word of God, a celebration instituted by Pope Francis in 2019, through the Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis (which means: he opened their understanding), fixed for the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time of each year.
With the universal Church, let us be renewed through reading, studying and praying of the Holy Scriptures. The Sunday of the Word of God reminds us to live by the Word, which would be our most eloquent sermon. Jesus in the Gospel insists on “today” as a day consecrated to God, a time of salvation, an occasion for joy and celebration.
Luke wrote his Gospel some fifty years after Jesus. His purpose for writing the Gospel was to give a solid foundation to the faith of the Christians. He did not write it to convert the pagans, but for those who already believed in Jesus and wished to lay a solid foundation for their faith.
We are in 80 A.D., and the Gospel has already been announced in the Roman Empire. Many have begun to put in writing the sayings of Jesus and episodes from his life. The eyewitnesses of Jesus recorded what they —“saw with their own eyes” and “touched with their hands” (1 John 1:1-4) and later became “Ministers of the Word.” Although Luke was not an eyewitness of Jesus, he attempts to gather his information from those “Ministers of the Word” to faithfully transmit the life and mission of Jesus to his community.
The second part of today’s passage (Luke 4:14-21) is the beginning of Jesus’ public life in his country. For Luke, it is the synthesis of all the activities of Jesus. It is Saturday, and people go to the synagogue to pray and hear the reading and explanation of God’s Word. On this day, Jesus, who is back in his village, acts as a reader.
Jesus opens the book that was presented to him. Luke wants to make it clear to his readers that the sacred text is a closed book without Christ. After reading, Jesus sits, and all the eyes are fixed on him. It is an invitation to focus our gaze on him and not on others.
“Today” —Jesus begins to proclaim— “these prophetic words come true” (v.21). He does not comment on the reading from the prophet but reveals its fulfilment. Today, the word of Jesus begins to free us from all diseases and psychological and moral barriers that do not allow us to go forward in love of God and people.
Uncontrolled passions in the pursuit of self-interest, thirst for possessions, the frenzy for power and success are the chains and barriers that prevent us from becoming children of God. These barriers begin to be crushed today through the irresistible force of the Holy Spirit (v.14). The Holy Spirit is at work in Jesus not only when he performs miraculous healings but also when he comforts and encourages with his powerful Word (Luke 4:36).
For your Reflection:
Today begins the year of grace, a time of the endless feast because the Word of salvation to everyone, free and without conditions, is announced in God’s name.
Father Josekutty
Mathew CMF
