＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

1 Thessalonians  4: 13-18

 Brothers and sisters, we want you not to be mistaken about those who are already asleep, lest you grieve as do those who have no hope. 

We be­lieve that Jesus died and rose; it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus. God will bring them together with Jesus and for his sake. By the same word of the Lord we assert this: those of us who are to be alive at the Lord’s coming will not go ahead of those who are already asleep.

 When the command by the arch­angel’s voice is given, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, while the divine trumpet call is sounding. Then those who have died in the Lord will rise first;  as for us who are still alive, we will be brought along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the celestial world. And we will be with the Lord forever.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 4: 16-30

 When Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath as he usually did.  He stood up to read and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and do announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  while the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them,  “Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen.”

 All agreed with him and were lost in wonder, while he spoke of the grace of God. Nevertheless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s son?”  So he said, “Doubtless you will quote me the saying: Doctor, heal yourself! Do here in your town what they say you did in Capernaum.”

 Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country.  Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens with­held rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land.  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon.  There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant.   They rose up and brought him out of the town,  to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, in­tending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.

 

Reflection gospel：

“HE HAS ANOINTED ME……”

The gospel narrative today contains the programmatic statement of Jesus’ mission: to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim liberty to the captives; new sight to the blind; to free the oppress; and, to announce the Lord’s year of mercy. It defines what Jesus is all up to, that is, to defeat the power of sin and to liberate humanity and the natural world from its bondage. Jesus’ mission is striking sin and its attendant social, religious, economic, and political structures, to the core; and, it does it head on. The consequence is the cross.

The Church, whose mandate is to carry on Jesus’ saving mission, and Christians from all walks of life, who take the gospel message to heart, are at the forefront of the fight against social injustices, the destruction and plundering of the natural world. The struggle remains, and the end seems remote. But we are not wanting of women and men who committed their lives for the promotion, preservation and protection of human life and other forms of life. Furthermore, the Spirit continues to touch the human heart so that God’s creation might continue to flourish and find fulfillment.