The power of the Word of God. St Paul says that the Word of the God is alive and active. It is like a doubled edged sword. Wherever it touches it cuts and leaves its mark. The Word of God when listened to penetrates the deepest parts of our being and changes us and prompts us to reflect where we are with God. This is the reason why when the Word of God is read during the celebration of the Eucharist we are invited to listen carefully because it is God who is talking to us at that moment. After all at the end of each reading we proclaim “This is the Word of the Lord”. This is also the reason why it is very important that as followers of Jesus we read slowly and then pray some verses of the Bible every day. We do this not to become smart and say that I can quote certain passages of the Bible by heart, but in order to base my life on what we find written.
Jesus gave his maiden speech for his public ministry in his home town of Nazareth as we have heard in today’s Gospel. In a nutshell he described his mission by repeating some verses from the prophet Isaiah. Now as we hear these words, we need to pause and reflect whether I am doing the same things as Jesus described about himself.
Jesus says that He has been sent “to bring good news to the poor”, that is, to those who might be considered as not too important or relevant. Am I bringing good news to the poor? One of the greatest satisfactions when I was a hospital chaplain was to reconcile families during a period of sickness. Very often people who were desperately sick desired to see their grandchildren. But they could not because they had argued some time back with their son or daughter. I cannot count the number of times that I visited these sons and daughters and accompanied them and their children to visit their parents and grandparents who were dying. Often I accompanied wives and husbands and helped them to say goodbye to each other and ask for forgiveness because the moment of death was fast approaching. Opportunities abound when we can sow the seed of encouragement, of hope and faith in the world around us where many are searching for lasting peace and tranquility.
Jesus was also conscious that part of his mission was “to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight.” The other day I came across a beautiful story regarding a photograph of a Dominican priest holding two healthy African babies on each arm. There is a significant meaning behind this story. The Dominican priest works in Rwanda a country that has been torn by strife and hatred because of a perennial war between the two prominent tribes that make up that country, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Rwanda had recently experienced a terrible civil war where thousands of people were massacred in a most foul manner because one tribe wanted to assert itself over the other. The country was reduced to chaos and destruction reigned everywhere. The people were afraid to come into the open for fear of being killed. This situation is portrayed very dramatically in a film that was released last year entitled “Hotel Rwanda”. What can a Dominican priest do in such a destructive situation? How could he be a source of hope and encouragement as Jesus did? He sent the photo with the two babies to his Superior General saying “As you see there is still life and consequently hope in Rwanda.” By caring for these two little babies as thousand of the people were doing, they were also sowing the seeds for a future generation which could be taught that with violence and aggression hearts will never be changed.
Finally, Jesus proclaimed that his mission was “to set the downtrodden free.” Last week this grandmother came to see me. She had with her, her first and only grandchild who suffers from cerebral palsy. She handed him over to me and asked me to pray for him. She said, “I brought this child myself because my daughter is constantly distraught, unable to cope with the situation and moreover the boy’s parents have no time for God”. At least, she said, “I know where this little child can find his peace of mind and heart. Pray for him.” What a woman of faith.
The Word of God is indeed life changing. Spend time with the daily readings of the Mass which can be found in any missal. Give yourself a bit of time every day to savor and taste what God desires to say to you. This is where we get the necessary encouragement to continue to be a source of blessing, hope and encouragement in the midst of so much hurt, fear and discouragement.
God bless.
