Homilies

3rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME:

THE GOSPEL TODAY features the return of Jesus to his native province, Galilee. By that time, the Galileans must have already heard about his fame: his preaching, his healing of the sick, and his casting out of demons. Well, they must be proud of him as a fellow Galilean. His return to his town Nazareth was unexpected. But people must have been excited to hear him speak. The scene was kind of dramatic. Reading a passage from the book of Isaiah, he then told the people, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Now, let us try to reflect some of the important moments in the gospel.

First, there is a mention of the Spirit in the passage. Accordingly, Jesus returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.” Jesus, who was conceived by the Spirit, is now a bearer of the Spirit. Before he began his public ministry, he was driven by the Spirit to the desert. At his baptism, the Spirit was present. Now, in his public ministry, the Spirit is all the more present. So, there is a linkage between Jesus and the Spirit. Elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus talks about his oneness with the Father. Now, the gospel says about his oneness with the Spirit. What does this do to us? On the one hand, this passage is a good aid for us to understand better and deeper our belief in one God: the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. On the other, this also leads us to realize that, like Jesus, we are a “spirited-people.” Let us not forget the presence of the Spirit in our lives, allow him to work in us, and follow where he leads us.

Second, Jesus’ return to Galilee and Nazareth shows how important it is to link ourselves to our roots. Jesus remembers the place where he grew up. He must have remembered too the things he used to do in that place. And one of these was to go to the synagogue and read a scripture passage. In life, homecoming or coming home is considered important. People who have a happy childhood would naturally love to “come home.” But for people who have sad memories during their childhood would never dare to “come home.” Our past, our childhood, whether happy or sad, is part of our life. In the road toward wholeness, the recommendation is to always go back to our roots.

Third, let us reflect on his solemn declaration, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” He declares himself as the expected Messiah who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah. It can also be viewed as the call to mission because of the “bringing of glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind….” We can relate this to our baptismal promises. When we were baptized, the Church did not look at our own merits, but to the faith of our parents and godparents. Thus, there must be a time in our life that we express our “owning” of this faith, as well as our “fulfilling” of the baptismal promises, that is, the call to mission. Like Jesus, we must also learn how to say to the Church and God that, “Today, this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” It should be clear to us that when we receive the sacrament of confirmation, we become missionaries because we are to bring good news to others. The bringing of good news is part of our Christian responsibility. We must be expressive of our faith so that we could also share it with others.

But certainly, it requires that we should first put our own house in order. We need to accept first the good news of Jesus and invite him in our lives. Only then we can share it with others.

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