Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we welcome Corinne, a third generation cradle Catholic whose faith has been largely influenced by the womenfolk in her life, particularly her grandmother and aunts. She retired from corporate life some nine years ago, but is definitely not retired from life. Married to a convert to Catholicism, they serve actively in their home parish, having first started with little ones in Children’s Liturgy, and later in various ministries (catechism, RCIA. RCIY, SCC etc). They are members of various faith communities in and outside of the parish which keeps them happily pre-occupied. Much of her days are taken up caring for her ageing parents, with various god-children providing some distraction! There never seems to be enough hours in a day to read, journal and spiritually accompany people which is her personal interest. Music, literature, movies, travel, other experimental hobbies – and above all, quiet time – are what keeps her attuned to the Lord and just grateful for the ordinariness of life where God lurks and springs his surprises.
Thursday after Epiphany Sunday
1 Jn 4:19-5:4
Lk 4:14-22
“The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me…”
I wonder if Jesus, had been spirit-led to proclaim that specific passage in Isaiah in the synagogue to kick-start his ministry. His listeners would have connected immediately those verses in Isaiah to their long history and recalled the promises of the Year of ‘Jubilee’ God had made with them. How timely that this passage comes to us on the back of the recent launch of the Jubilee Year by Pope Francis. In Jesus’ time, the Jubilee year occurred every 50 years and involved the cancelling of debts and restoration of land to the landless – an equalisation of sorts towards the common good – the idea being to extend the blessings of the Exodus on the Israelites into their future.
Jesus declared that he had been ‘anointed’ to “bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” as prophesied by Isaiah. He then ended with the proclamation that “this text is being fulfilled today even as you listen’, establishing in no uncertain terms that he was indeed the Messiah long foretold by Isaiah (and other prophets) and that the jubilee was at the heart of his mission. The ‘Lord’s year of favour’ had indeed come for the people as announced by Jesus.
We are inordinately blessed to live in prosperity and safety, with creature comforts that go beyond our basic needs – starkly different from life for the Jews. Yet, I can see that I too am in need of salvation by our Messiah. I am definitely poor in spirit, needing the Lord’s graces and mercy, particularly in the fight against temptations to pride and sin, for instance. I am also captive to my own woundedness, prejudices and anger, blind to my faults, trapped in discouragement and resentment over personal circumstances or when life throws an unexpected lemon. It is thus consoling as I write this reflection, to be reminded that Jesus had come in time past to save his people, but is still very much present and active today amongst us through the Spirit. His saving work continues today through the Holy Spirit and he desires us all to experience and encounter him in our lives.
Additionally, we too have been anointed with the Spirit at baptism and confirmation. As is characteristic at this time of the year, many begin January making resolutions with the vain aspiration of arriving at year end a ‘better’ person. Personally, I hope to grow in faith and draw closer to God – it has been a recurrent theme over the years. Today’s gospel led me to go a little deeper and to reflect honestly, my response to the question of how and if the Spirit has animated my life as a disciple. Have I grown spiritually in any meaningful way over time? Have I dared to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone, especially in areas where real change of heart is needed?
In the gospel, Jesus shows us what God’s kingdom should look like – one marked by justice, compassion and freedom. The invitation to us to participate alongside our Lord in making His jubilee dream a reality is a clear one. Will I obey God’s commandment to love my brother, as exhorted by St John in today’s first reading? It does look like my resolution(s) will need to take on more specifics and be marked by intentionality in this new year.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Corinne Cheok)
Prayer: Help me Lord to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in this New Year, docile to his promptings and obedient to his invitations to love in concrete ways. Open my heart to the broken body of Christ revealed in my suffering brothers and sisters; use me to bring hope to them in this Jubilee Year.
Thanksgiving: I praise and thank you, Lord, for the gift of a new year – for fresh possibilities to begin again. For the gift of faith and the desire to want to love you more. Thank you for loving me.
OXYGEN 
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