Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
During the Advent season this past year I talked about the unique nature of the Gospel of Luke. Luke was by training and profession a physician, a scientist who was meticulous in detail and scrupulous in research. Luke was not an eyewitness of the events about which he writes, but took it upon himself to curate the various eyewitness accounts, “investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence.” (Luke 1:3) The life of Jesus is not a magnificent fairytale and in Luke’s narrative we find the factual, historical telling of the story of salvation. In this truncated passage, we skip from this preamble to the fourth chapter, and find Jesus in His Father’s house, the synagogue. He has been baptized by John in the River Jordan, He has changed the water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana, His fame and His following are growing, and He is returning home, to Nazareth.
Luke takes note of the fact that Jesus, as an observant Jew, follows the habit of attending the synagogue on the Sabbath. It is not described in the Scripture, but we can imagine the atmosphere. Jesus is the local boy who has made good. He has come home with some reputation as teacher. He goes forward to the reading desk and is handed the passage from the prophet Isaiah which outlines His very mission. He tells His friends and neighbors, people who have known Him since boyhood, that He is not simply there to offer insight and wisdom, He is the living fulfillment of Scripture, He IS the Good News.
We will read together next week what happened next in the synagogue, but this week I invite you to join in reflecting on the great mystery and the great gift we celebrated not long ago at Christmas, “The Word was made flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
I wish you and your loved one’s blessings of good health, great hope and the encouragement of the Word,
Fr. Paul
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