TODAY!

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 1, 1-4 4, 14-21 Today! Not tomorrow, not Next week, but today! Not even last week or 2000 years ago, or 2500 years ago. Today! Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Ezra in the first reading, Jesus and Luke in the Gospel show us the power of reading the scriptures in our liturgy. We read the ancient writings because they speak to us of our relationship to God and to one another today. In the first reading Ezra the prophet is reading aloud the word of God. Ancient Israel had been captured by the Babylonians about the year 586 BCE. Most of the people had been captured and taken into exile in Persia, modern day Iran. Their temple had been destroyed as well as their whole city. 50 years later King Cyrus allowed the people to return, and they not only rebuilt their city and temple they also rebuilt their culture and their religion. The temple had been rebuilt and on this great occasion Ezra got into the pulpit and read the scriptures to the people. The people needed to be given hope and this is what Ezra did. He proclaimed God’s word and it filled the people with hope. A new era had begun. Four hundred years later Jesus did the same thing. He goes back to his hometown filled with the Spirit and does the same thing. He proclaims a year of favor. Jesus is doing what Ezra did but of course Jesus’ mission is much more. Ezra gave the people hope as they rebuilt their homes and culture. Jesus gave the people of his home town hope 2000 years ago, and he gives us his people hope today. As I said, “today, this moment, the word of God is fulfilled in our hearing.” The spirit of God was upon Jesus. The spirit of God is upon us. What happened 2500 years ago when Ezra proclaimed the scripture is happening today, what happened 2000 years ago when Jesus proclaimed the scripture is happening today. What happened 1950 years ago when Luke wrote his gospel to Theofilus is happening today. The spirit of the Lord is upon us. I proclaimed the word of God, but I am not a modern-day Ezra or Luke. Obviously, I am not Jesus today. The spirit of the Lord is upon us but not as it was upon Jesus. The spirit of the Lord is upon us, all of us the Christian community. Ezra was encouraging the people to remain faithful to God. To not just rebuild their city but also to rebuild their hearts, to return to God who is their true home. The spirit is upon us. We are anointed. We are anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor. Liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. Jesus’ mission then is our mission today. But obviously we need glad tidings, we need to set free, we need to see more clearly, we need to be set free from all that oppresses us. So how do we do this? It is not a question of one and then the other. We don’t have to be set free first to set others free. No, it is a both and. In freeing and helping others we free and help ourselves. This week as I reflected upon this scripture with the members of our pastoral counsel. One of them shared that whenever their help others they end up receiving more than they give. That is what it is all about. We build the kingdom together. So let us begin, let us begin proclaiming the Good news, let us begin freeing captives, helping those who are blind, and telling the oppressed that they are free. We do it because we are God’s anointed. And we begin today! God’s people can’t wait! We can’t wait!