Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing

2 SEPTEMBER (Lk 4,16-30)

Isaiah is the prophet who more than anyone else revealed, almost describing it, the life of the future Messiah of the Lord. This will be a “perfect tool” of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord will accomplish through Him the true salvation of man.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, To announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; To place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit. They will be called oaks of justice, planted by the Lord to show his glory. They shall rebuild the ancient ruins, the former wastes they shall raise up And restore the ruined cities, desolate now for generations. Strangers shall stand ready to pasture your flocks, foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers. You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord, ministers of our God you shall be called. You shall eat the wealth of the nations and boast of riches from them. Since their shame was double and disgrace and spittle were their portion, They shall have a double inheritance in their land, everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I, the Lord, love what is right, I hate robbery and injustice; I will give them their recompense faithfully, a lasting covenant I will make with them. Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the Lord has blessed. I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations (Is 61,1-11).
The Messiah of the Lord is Jesus. In the synagogue of Nazareth, he comes and proclaims fulfilled in him the prophecy of Isaiah, just read. It is a revelation waited for about a thousand years. Such is has been the time gone by since the Lord had made this promise to David.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom 8 into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

It is fair to ask oneself: why did all this confusion of hearts and minds happen? What is the fundamental error that caused it? The answer lies in the inadequacy between the greatness of the prophecy, and the smallness of Jesus. On the one hand there is a word of God that promises very high, divine things; and on the other, there is a humble son of a carpenter with no experience of the things of this world. Those of Nazareth ignore the first of the truths of God: the instruments of God do not handle themselves alone. They are always instruments in the hands of God, handled by him. The condition of a man has nothing and must never have anything to do with it. Rather God chooses right these humble instruments to operate.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints, give us the truth of God.