St. Andre Bessette, religious 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

1 John 4:19 – 5:4

So let us love one another, since he loved us first.

 If you say, “I love God,” while you hate your brother or sister, you are a liar. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your brother whom you see? We received from him this commandment: let those who love God also love their brothers.

 All those who believe that Jesus is the Anointed, are born of God; whoever loves the Father, loves the Son. How may we know that we love the children of God? If we love God and fulfill his commands,

 for God’s love requires us to keep his commands. In fact, his commandments are not a burden  because all those born of God overcome the world. And the victory which overcomes the world is our faith.

 

Ps 72:1-2, 14 & 15bc, 17

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 4:14-22

 Jesus acted with the power of the Spirit, and on his return to Galilee the news about him spread throughout all that territory.   He began teaching in the synagogues of the Jews and everyone praised him.

 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 announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

 Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down, 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 kept on speaking of the grace of God. Nevertheless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s son?”

      

Gospel Reflection：

Mercy as the Last Word

Jesus declares his mission, quoting Isaiah. The audience is enthralled, but not for long. Soon there is a change in response. If we read further, we know that the audience rose up seething in anger, wanting to hurl him off the cliff. Why? Because Jesus did the unthinkable. The verse in Isaiah ends thus:”to announce the Lord’s year of mercy and the day of his vengeance.”

Jesus breaks the sentence, stops at mercy, closes the book, For Jews who have suffered cycles of slavery, humiliation, and death at the hands of their enemies, experience of redemption must coincide with vengeance on enemies. This link is simply unbreakable. We are no different. We experience peace when our enemies perish. We have closure only when revenge is meted out. Not for Jesus. For him, mercy is the last word, period.

 

St. Andre Bessette, religious 

Bessette died in 1937, at the age of 91. 

Brother André was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.

 Pope Benedict XVI, on October 17, 2010, formally declared sainthood for him.