Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year C
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

 

Mission Possible!

 
Upon Reflection:   The Gospel reading from this Sunday tells us a story of Jesus standing up in his hometown synagogue and reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah.  We are told that he deliberately searched for a particular passage within the scroll that was handed to him. Then after reading it, he says to everyone that “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Make no mistake, Jesus was unveiling his Mission Statement.  His Mission is to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and a year of abolishing debts to everyone.  And of course, we know that this is also our Mission today as Christ’s Body.  But how often do we think of ourselves as the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, and the indebted?  It seems that most of us (including myself) have a much easier time accepting the role of being the servant than the one being served.  It seems that most of us would much rather serve the Lord by serving others than have the Lord serve us through the compassion of others (remember Peter at the washing of the feet).  As much as it is true that we as disciples of Jesus must join Him in His Mission, we must also recognize that we are the recipients as well, otherwise we exclude ourselves from Jesus’ ministry.  We are all poor, all captives, all blind, all oppressed, and all indebted in some way.  Are we willing to be ministered to?

 -Fred T. Mercadante
Campus Minister