Called to bring the Good News to all

Reflecting on our Sunday Readings with Fr Philip Tay, OCD

Jan 26, 2025

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Readings: Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10;
1 Corinthians 12:12-30;
Gospel: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

For many people, the word prophecy often means foretelling the future, either future events or figures who will arise in the future. Humanity in general is somewhat obsessed with the possibility of seeing the future. This is why the prophecies of Nostradamus was so popular for a period of time. Of course, we can put whatever meaning that we want into his so-called predictions and come out with something. This was the case with the Bible Code book. However, as the saying goes, given enough time, a monkey can type out the entire works of Shakespeare. The point is we cannot and should not read too much into prophetic literature.

In the Old Testament, the word prophet comes from the Hebrew nabi’, which literally means a spokesperson. This is derived from the root verb naba’, which means to speak on behalf of another. Taking this into account, a prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God. Nowhere do we find the idea of foretelling the future. However, a prophet can also speak of possible futures if certain conditions were not met. We see this occurring in many of the Prophetic writings in the Old Testament. These warnings or messages can also be applied to modern day circumstances as it concerns the choices that we make both as an individual and as a society. In the Gospel today, Jesus reads from the Prophet Isaiah and points out that He is the fulfilment of that particular prophecy.

The first line of the prophecy refers to His baptism, where the Spirit came down and rested upon him and the following line refers to Him being the anointed one. This is, of course, is directly related to His name, Christ, which literally means the Anointed One. The rest of the prophecy talks about bringing the good news of God to everyone and to give freedom to all who are held captive in whatever way. By the time this incident occurred, He was already in active ministry, carrying out exactly what the prophecy foretold. This was why He was able to say that the text is being fulfilled. By exercising His ministry, He brought fulfilment to the entire text of Isaiah. However, this was nearly two thousand years ago. The question is, can the text of Isaiah still apply to us today?

At Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit and at Confirmation, we are anointed with the Oil of Sacred Chrism. Both these Sacraments fulfil the first two lines of the prophecy already. The last line of the text, which is to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour is also what we are called to do, more so because our Pope has declared this year to be the Jubilee Year of Hope. By virtue of our Baptism, we are all called to bring the good news to the poor, not just those who are financially poor but also to those who are poor in all aspects of life. To those who are poor in hope, we bring them the message of hope, that God will not abandon us. To those who are poor in the practice of prayer, we accompany them in their journey of prayer and the list goes on. There is so much that we can do but we have to make the conscious decision to do it.

How do we proclaim liberty to captives and set the downtrodden free? Being a captive need not necessarily means being in a physical prison, it can also mean being in a emotional prison. This is especially true when we make the choice to hold grudges and not to forgive. Very often, we think that by not forgiving, we are making the other person miserable. But experience tells us that this is not always the case. By withholding forgiveness, we choose to lock ourselves in prison and throwing the key. Sometimes, instead of proclaiming liberty to captives, we proclaim liberty to ourselves. When we help others to forgive, we help them to open the doors of their ‘prison’ and set them free.

Blindness may not be physical as well. We can be blind to the needs of others around us and we can also turn a blind eye to those who seek our help. In this case, giving new sight to the blind means giving a new perspective on how we see things and people, not to see them from our prejudiced and biased vision but to see them using the eyes of God. This is what it means to have new sight. Ultimately, all of us can be a fulfilment of the text of Isaiah but the question is, are we willing or daring enough to take up that call? The choice is up to us.

Total Comments:0

Name
Email
Comments