January 26, 2025: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Luke 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21

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.”

Reflection

A commentator on this passage noted that in Luke, “Jesus’ declaration that ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,’ declares who Jesus is, declares what Jesus came to do, and declares how Jesus would do it.”

And further, he said, “a follower of Jesus is empowered to live the same kind of life as Jesus.by submitting to the presence, purpose and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.”

He reminded the reader that in Acts: 1:8, we are assured that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere …” I find it hard to believe sometimes that the Spirit is that active in my life!

Action

I will spend some time at the end of each day trying to identify how, when and where the Spirit worked in my life or how, when and where I may have blocked the Spirit’s workings.