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Gospel Reading for January 26, 2025 – Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21
HIS MOMENT
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to captives and
recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year
acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
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There are preachers who amaze/awe us with the way they preach; the way they expound and deepen the Word of God. They are able to do such because they are gifted with the Spirit of God.
Imagine then, what it would have been like to hear the Son of God himself! He was just reading from the book of Isaiah and everyone looked intently at him. He wasn’t preaching yet, but the reading was referring to himself. Imagine how he read the REVELATION of himself! Imagine the electricity that surrounded him. It was HIS MOMENT!
It would be a very good experience for us to every once in a while, as we read what Jesus did in the New Testament, to imagine ourselves listening to Jesus himself. Perhaps, it will bring more life to our reflection. Perhaps, it will make our prayer, our response to him, more intimate!
Lord Jesus, may we always experience you as if we were in Israel as your faithful followers!
