Nehemiah 8:2-4,5-6.8-10. Psalm 19:8-10,15, I Cor.12:12-30, Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21. Third Sunday in Ordinary Time...C

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:2-4, 5-6. 8-10. Psalm 19:8-10,15. I Cor.12:12-30.
Luke 1:1-4.4:14-21

Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J. is one of the greatest exegetes and theologians
of Luke our Evangelist for the Sundays of this year, a Cycle C in the
liturgical readings. I was fortunate enough to be with him for a weekend
seminar on Luke and he explained and told us the significance of the first
four lines of this magnificent Gospel. What struck me most was the definite
statement that fulfillment of the Scriptures was one of the driving forces
in the life of Jesus. Luke tells us of this when he says he is writing to
the Beloved of God (Theophilus) in order to "compile a narrative of the
events which have been fulfilled in our midst." Luke is intentionally
uniting this theme of fulfillment to the prophetic texts of the First
Testament (Old Testament) and today's selection points this out very
clearly. The content of Luke's Gospel is meant as a catechesis and
formative instruction for the faithful Christians and a proclamation about
what Jesus did and said while accomplishing the fulfillment of the
Scriptures. By listening and interiorizing what Luke is narrating we will
be confident and assured in the veracity of his twofold workd of a Gospel
and the Acts of the Apostles. We will be formed by this Gospel as the
weeks move on and they will help us in our communities and in our personal
lives as followers of Jesus. We see Jesus unrolling the scroll of Isaiah,
the prophet, and reading the section that tells us of his call and mission
from the Father. "He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it is
written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me.
He sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to
captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to
announce a year of favor from the Lord." Then surveying those gathered in
the Nazareth synagogue he states emphatically, " Today this Scripture is
being fulfilled in your midst." As we celebrate this passage in the
framework of the other readings, especially the one from Nehemiah. we learn
that God's word is central to Jesus' proclamation and that we, too, are
called to become creative agents of God's redeeming love as our era of
history experiences salvation. Amen.