The face of God’s mercy and compassion

The WORD in Other Words by Fr Jose H Mateo SVD (Paraguay)

Monday Week 22 Ordinary Time, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Lk 4:16-30

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MISSION STATEMENT, MESSIANIC PROGRAM!   These are terms that could very well describe the gospel reading for today. Jesus went  back to Nazareth to inaugurate His public ministry and to proclaim a message of liberation to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed.   

With just fifteen verses, the gospel presents to us the following: the passage from the Book of Isaiah which Jesus applied to Himself to describe His mission,   the rejection of Jesus in His own town which represented Israel’s unbelief, and the  attempt to eliminate Jesus which was the beginning of the persecution that would  eventually end on the cross.   

The Old Testament describes God as a God of mercy, slow to anger and rich   in compassion. Jesus in the New Testament becomes the face of God‘s mercy and  compassion. The coming of Jesus inaugurates a time of grace, a year of favor, a year   acceptable to the Lord.   

We thank you Lord for announcing the Good News to all of us. Thank you for showing us the face of the Merciful Father. Thank you for this time of grace.

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