Neh 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Cor
12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4;4:14-21
So
what is your mission? In all things our model is Jesus. Let’s have a refresher
course in the life of Jesus since Christmas. In this passage from Luke, Jesus
is at the beginning of his mission. He is filled with the Spirit. It is the fulfillment
of that moment we saw a few weeks ago during Christmas when, at age 12, thought
“lost,” he “found himself” in the Temple; found himself when he had this overwhelming
sense that this place, the Temple, was his place, doing his Father’s business.
More recently, we saw him get baptized and we heard the overwhelming sense of his
Father’s love that drove him out into the desert for forty days to ponder what
The Father expected of him, that is, his mission. Here, now, he begins his public
life in Nazareth in his hometown synagogue where he prayed as a boy. Here, still
full of that Spirit, he proclaims his mission. Devout Jews would recognize this
proclamation as the mission of the long-awaited Messiah. This mission is His Father’s
business – to announce the Kingdom of God breaking into their midst, among
them, daily, today, made flesh in his person. He is the new priest-scribe Ezra
who speaks in the Book of Nehemiah. Jesus opens the scroll like Ezra and reads
God’s word to the people. He says he will bring liberty and healing, the Father’s
business, his mission. He reminds them who God is and who they are, God’s
people.
So, what’s your mission? Christ sends each of
us on a mission. Each of us is a word that God wants to speak—as if from that
scroll — ‘to the nations.’ Something life-giving for others – in the family,
at work, in our parish, in our community. We are exhorted in the Dismissal at
the end of mass: “Go, announce the Gospel of the Lord.”
For us ‘the nations’ is local, right here in
Harrodsburg. Here’s a local example. This week I saw two of ours, Will Begley
and His Honor the Mayor, Art Freeman, on the dais at the Rotary Club. Will
introduced Art who ‘announced’ that he is the first Catholic mayor in Harrodsburg
history. Then, he presented his vision for Harrodsburg, his mission, to bring
people together, to work, together. It’s in Harrodsburg
Herald this week, too.
Each of has a mission. What’s yours? St. Paul
says we are different parts in the building of the Kingdom. What part are you? Ponder
that this week. And encourage others to play their part. Last week some took a
part in the Martin Luther King Day celebrations. This week, what part can you
play that will, in effect, announce that The Kingdom of God is in our midst? Is
now, every day, today, as Luke tells us? Ponder that and do it. Hear Jesus say
to you: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”