Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Gospel: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
St Luke is concerned to tell us that Jesus is no ordinary man. He is a person filled with the Holy Spirit. In our gospel today, the Spirit makes him return to his home province, Galilee. Being guided by the Spirit at all times makes him free from sin and totally obedient to the Father. Every now and then, Jesus would go to the synagogue to teach. All people in the synagogue praised Jesus for he had acquired a reputation, and they were impressed by his talent.
Today’s Gospel is an occasion of induction, inauguration and anointing of Jesus when He entered the synagogue in Nazareth. In the midst of everyone listening, Jesus embraced the mission He was sent to accomplish. After reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus boldly declared, “Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” He was the one all the prophets and laws of the Old Testament spoke of. When everyone had fallen away on the sidelines, Jesus kept His hands on the reign, for He is the one.
Efren Tomas
In 2004, Father Efren arrived on Maui, Hawaii to be the Pastor of Christ The King Catholic Church in Kahului, Maui until 2012. He calls Christ The King his home because this was his first parish in Hawaii.
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