Tag: Isaiah

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21)

“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.”

On the sabbath and in the town of Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up, in the synagogue he reads from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. After reading it, he says to those in the synagogue, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” In saying this, Jesus claims divine identity as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Today’s Gospel begins from the first chapter of Luke, in which he lays out his intention for writing it: just as many have written of the events Jesus fulfilled, Luke carefully investigates the events so that “you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.” As Jesus fulfills what we hear him read in the portion of the reading, he fulfills entirely all of it, as when Isaiah says Jesus was sent “To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit.” Jesus embodies the longing of the prophets; he is hope realized from every promise God fulfills.

God, strengthen my faith. Luke investigates the events of Jesus and retells them for that purpose. What I first received through faith, help me grow in the certainty of its teachings and be released from the bonds of doubt. Why does Luke retell what has been told but to share with one person, Theophilus, the entirety of the Gospel? In sharing that joy with one person, he shares with the whole world. Lord, give me the grace to see the words and actions of Jesus anew in Luke’s Gospel. Help me see in him the fulfillment of all of your promises made throughout the history of salvation. In receiving the word, let me be firm in faith and tirelessly retell to one soul at a time what Jesus brought to fulfillment: “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, and to proclaim liberty to the captives.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “How I love your law, O LORD! It is my meditation all the day. Lord, I love your commands.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (LK 4:16-30)

They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”

As Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, the people who watched him grow up under the care of Mary and Joseph hear him read the passage from Isaiah: 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. After Jesus tells them that this passage is fulfilled in their hearing, they question in amazement where he gets, as they say, “the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Then, citing examples from the Old Testament, he tells his fellow townspeople that the message of salvation is for all, not just the Israelites. The people become furious and drive him out of the town and attempt to throw him off a cliff. Taking place at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, this foreshadows the rejection he would face in proclaiming the Gospel as God’s own Son.

God, help me hear the Gospel acclamation and reflect on it in two ways: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” it reads, and “he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” These are the words Jesus chose to read to his own people. The Spirit of the Lord is the Holy Spirit, the love between you and your Son. Saint Paul says something similar in his letter to the Corinthians: “with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” It is also the same Spirit upon your Son, the same Spirit of power that Paul demonstrated, you also give to me through baptism and the sacraments. When I stand before others today—even ones who know me well in my ordinariness—help me through your supernatural grace step aside to allow myself to be a means of your mercy and joy. Glory to you, Lord!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“There is need of only one thing.” | Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:38-42)

“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

In today’s Gospel, Luke gives us a view into Jesus’ friendship with Martha and Mary. He tells us that Martha welcomes Jesus as he enters a village. Without Luke describing how, we see Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary. At that moment, Martha is burdened with much serving while Mary is “beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.” Where would Mary be without Martha? She has welcomed Jesus into her home and served him hospitably with food and drink. Because of this, Mary is able to give wholehearted attention to the words of the Lord. And where would Martha be without Mary? Although Martha is anxious and asks, “Lord, do you not care,” Mary holds up for her a fundamental choice—the better part. What is the one thing needed but to quiet yourself in the presence of the Lord?

God, I want to be in your presence today. Whether I am aware of you, I will go on with the day regardless, busy with many things and anxious to accomplish them. Martha, in her frustration, said, “Lord, do you not care?” Yet, that in itself is a prayer for your presence and an expression of need. When I forget you today, bring me back through your grace to recognize that I need you. Call me back, Lord, to sit at your feet and hear your voice. Help me remember today’s Gospel acclamation as a way to return to you again and again: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

From the responsorial psalm: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. LORD, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?” Lord, hear my voice!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:25-37)

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Today’s Gospel makes clear that the language God uses to speak to his people is mercy. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrates for the scholar what it means to be a neighbor. First a priest and then a Levite approach a victim lying in the road, but they see the man and pass him on the opposite side. As models caretakers of worship and the Temple, they would be expected also to be model neighbors. Instead, a Samaritan helps the victim. In other passages in the Gospel, as when Jesus tries to pass through a Samaritan village to reach Jerusalem, the Samaritans are anything but welcoming, and Jesus finds another way to reach the city. In the same way, God’s mercy—if not expressed through his chosen people, the Israelites—finds another way through the love and care the Samaritan provides for the victim. What does cooperation with God’s grace do for our relationships with neighbors?

Father in heaven, eternal life seems far off, and here it is sometimes hard to love. Within the turmoil of this life, I forget to be loving or choose not to love. Yet, in this state of exile, you hear my prayer just as you heard the prayers of Jonah: “From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God.” And from the responsorial psalm, I hear: “Out of my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me; From the midst of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice.” Hear me, Lord, as I encounter my neighbor many times over today and have the opportunity to show compassion in return as you have been compassionate to me. Where I tend to accuse, show me how to forgive; when I am tempted to wound with words, teach me to heal; and when I am inclined to deny who my neighbor is, help me instead be welcoming and merciful.

From the Gospel acclamation: “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” Lord, be merciful; help me show mercy in return.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“It is wonderful in our eyes.” | Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21:33-43)

Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

Jesus speaks to the chief priests and elders about the kingdom of God through a parable about a landowner and his vineyard. The landowner is the Lord, and the tenants caring for the vineyard are the spiritual leaders of Israel. The servants the landowner sends are holy people and prophets sent by God to bear spiritual fruit and do God’s will. During harvest, when the landowner sends servants to obtain the produce of the harvest, the tenants beat, kill, and stone them. Others are sent, treated the same way. Finally, the landowner sends his son, whom the landowner believes they will respect. On seeing the son, the tenants say, foreshadowing Jesus’ passion and death: “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.” Jesus asks what the landowner will do when he returns. Today and at the Second Coming, how will we be found caring for the Lord’s vineyard—all of his gifts and his Church?

God, help me take in the richness in all of today’s readings. As in the first reading and responsorial psalm, the vineyard represents your kingdom on earth. We, your servants on earth are here to care for it. But often in my corner of the vineyard, rather than a crop of grapes, wild grapes grow. Parts of it lie in ruin, overgrown with thorns and briers. A sinner, I forget and cut myself off from you. Yet, as with the psalmist, I ask for your grace to bear good fruit: “Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine.” Lord, help me care for your gifts, the kingdom you have given me to nurture. It is, after all, yours: “by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.”

From the second reading: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Lord, grant me your peace; remain in me to produce lasting fruit.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Monday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:16-30)

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

From the close of today’s Gospel reading, Luke relates how Jesus is driven out of town by the people in the synagogue. What did he do to receive this treatment? At the beginning of the passage, minutes before this, Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah the words “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and to people amazed at his gracious words, he says: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing,” thus revealing himself as the Messiah. But the people of Nazareth are unable to accept Jesus’ claims and become hostile toward him. They reject him, skeptical that “the son of Joseph” could not possibly be the Messiah. How does this relate to those of us who live among family or within tight-knit communities?

God, help me understand today’s Gospel in relation to my own experiences among the people whose lives I touch. I sometimes feel trapped in the skeptical milieu of modern communication—social media, instant access to communication, layer upon layer of interpretations of events. Help me recognize that despite living in this age, the world is yours and all that is in and that truth is not a philosophy or dictum or creed but a person—Jesus Christ your Son. Your kingdom is present and it is to come. When I am met with hostility because of my faith in the Church, help me remember the words that Jesus read from Isaiah: “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.”

From the responsorial psalm: “Before the LORD, for he comes; for he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.