Today’s gospel reading is in two parts. First, We hear the introduction to St. Luke's gospel, Luke 1:1-4. Then we skip several chapters and continue reading from Luke 4:14-21. What happens in the chapters we skip over are the birth and infancy narratives of Jesus that we heard about a month ago, the baptism of Jesus that we heard two weeks ago and the temptation of Jesus in the dessert that we will hear about in the first weeks of Lent.
St. Luke begins his gospel with a prologue addressed to a fellow Christian, Theophilus, a name that literally means "beloved of God." The truth is any of our names could replace Theophilus in this passage. Because not only is St. Luke writing for Theophilus, he is writing for all of us so that each one of us, like Theophilus, "may realize the certainty of the teachings [we] have received" (Luke 1:4). And every one of us is beloved of God.
The words that Jesus spoke in the second part of today's gospel are his mission statement. Anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus, quotes the prophet Isaiah and declares that he has been sent “to bring glad tidings to the poor... to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). This mission did not end when Jesus ascended in to heaven. Jesus passed His mission on to his disciples and to us. We are anointed by the Holy Spirit at our baptisms to continue the work Jesus began.
Lord God,
whose compassion embraces all peoples,
whose law is wisdom, freedom, and joy for the poor,
fulfill your promise in our midst
that we may receive the gospel of salvation with faith
and, anointed by the Spirit, freely proclaim it.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
