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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - 27/1/2019 - Gospel: Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Different Stories
There are many different accounts about the life and death of one man, Jesus, and every single account  makes the claim that it is authentic. When there are several options to choose from, one has choices but choosing what is best is not an easy task. St Luke made the task easier by putting the accounts of the life and death of Jesus in a right order.

After carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, said Luke, he decided to write an ordered account Lk 1,2.
 
When the account is put in a right order it would help us to see a clearer picture.  John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. It confirmed that Jesus is the Anointed One. Jesus went home and that he regularly worshipped in the synagogue. One day they handed him the scroll to read and he found the passage:

The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

The passage that Jesus read was taken from the prophet Isaiah. It referred to 'the Anointed One' and Jesus is 'the Anointed One'.  'The Anointed One' has a mission to fulfil. It is the public ministry or the mission of Jesus. We are certain of it because Jesus himself said to the people at the synagogue that that: This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen Lk. 4,21.

Jesus' mission is to bring the good news to everyone, beginning with 'the poor". It is not necessarily 'poor' in poverty but all who are thirsty for what is right and just are spiritual poor. Jesus has received God's Spirit at his baptism and God's Spirit is working on him and with him. Jesus is going to set free all afflicted and the oppressed by sin. He will liberate his people from evil's power and spiritual death. His Light will shine and conquer the power of darkness and he will bring hope to the hopeless. All these activities are tied together in the 'year of the Lord's favour'. Unlike the jubilee year the Jews celebrates every fifty years. On that year all debts will be cancelled. The 'year of the Lord's favour' will cancel all  our sins. It will liberate us from the power of darkness and adopt us to the children of the Light. The 'year of the Lord's favour' means God never leaves his people where he finds them. Once a person encounters with the divine, God's grace always accompanies that person and his/ her life will change towards God. Authentic change happens when one listens to the teaching of Jesus. Authentic change happens from within, from the heart and this changes their way of life. As soon as that person listens to the word of Jesus, change starts and that person would never be the same again. Authentic change is visible through his/her actions and words.

Through baptism we receive the Spirit of the Lord and that means we share the Spirit of 'the Anointed One' and we share also the same mission that Jesus had handed down to his disciples and those who believe in Him. We are called to do the mission, the same kind of work Jesus did when he was on earth. We are called to practice our baptismal promises and that is to be an active agent of God's love for the world.

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