The Spirit of God is Upon Me

Dear friends,

("Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” That line, delivered by the character of Reverend Sykes in To Kill a Mockingbird, is one of the most moving passages in a novel filled with affecting moments.


Atticus Finch, the father in question, is a lawyer who has just lost a case that ensures the death of his client, Tom Robinson. But despite his failure, Atticus—a white man in 1930s Alabama—is revered by the black community for agreeing to take on the defense of Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white women. In unison, the men and women viewing the trial from the “colored balcony” stand up out of respect for Atticus as he exits the courtroom at the end of the trial.

In 2003 Atticus Finch was voted the greatest hero in American film—ahead of James Bond and Indiana Jones, who, unlike Atticus, never fail to accomplish their missions.

As difficult as it is to accept at times, surely each of knows, not only from characters in literature but from the life of Christ, that true heroism has nothing to do with winning and everything to do with love.)
–Patrice J. Tuohy (From the website PREPARE THE WORD)

Today’s Gospel reading shows us Jesus at the very beginning of His ministerial life. He comes home to Nazareth and reads from the scroll of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. He announces: 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.
Then He boldly claims that this prophecy is fulfilled by His life.

Jesus clearly understood from the beginning that the human life that He was given by God was not to be used for His own purpose. BUT, He was mandated to live to fulfill God’s purposes.

GUESS WHAT? SO ARE WE!

peace,
Fr. Chuck