Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Thursday, 8 January 2015Meditation - Luke 4: To Set the Burdened Free
14-15 Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure.
16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
God’s Spirit is on me;
he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”
22 All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since he was a youngster?”
Christmas Weekday
… the gracious words that came from his mouth. (Luke 4:22)
Words are often downplayed next to actions. Actions speak louder, as the saying goes. Even great saints are quoted as saying that words should only be a supplement to how we live our lives.
This may be true, but it doesn’t mean that we should discount words entirely. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus shows the value and importance of words in his ministry. Even as he was loving people, healing them, and caring for them, he was speaking to them, proclaiming the good news to them.
Did Jesus speak words of bitterness or complaint? Can you imagine him angrily yelling at someone who cut him off with a donkey cart in Jerusalem traffic? No, his words were gracious! They were warm and inviting. Even when he spoke to his enemies, his voice probably cracked with emotions like sadness and frustration rather than fury and hatred. And because of the words he used and the way he spoke them, people flocked to his side.
If you ever doubt that your words—even your smallest comments—have great power, think about the effects that negative words have. Were you ever made fun of as a child? Did anyone ever make an offhand remark that still stings? How long have they stuck with you? These negative comments can fall so carelessly from our lips. We might be quick to criticize or judge, without remembering how deeply words can hurt and limit a person’s potential. If negative speech can have such a profound impact, imagine how much more power your words of encouragement, appreciation, and affirmation can have!
In their training, new teachers are taught that for each criticism or correction they give, they should also give at least three positive comments. So try to put this into practice today. For every complaint that slips out, be sure to say three positive things. Encourage your spouse and children and co-workers and neighbors. Thank the cashier at the grocery store. Bless the person who cuts you off in traffic. Try to make all of your words gracious. You never know—you may give the only encouragement that someone receives all day!
“Lord, let my words be gracious like yours.” Amen!
1 John 4:19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
5:1-3 Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.
The Power That Brings the World to Its Knees
4-5 Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
Psalms 72: A Solomon Psalm
1-8 Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.
9-14 Foes will fall on their knees before God,
his enemies lick the dust.
Kings remote and legendary will pay homage,
kings rich and resplendent will turn over their wealth.
All kings will fall down and worship,
and godless nations sign up to serve him,
Because he rescues the poor at the first sign of need,
the destitute who have run out of luck.
He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out,
he restores the wretched of the earth.
He frees them from tyranny and torture—
when they bleed, he bleeds;
when they die, he dies.
15-17 And live! Oh, let him live!
Deck him out in Sheba gold.
Offer prayers unceasing to him,
bless him from morning to night.
Fields of golden grain in the land,
cresting the mountains in wild exuberance,
Cornucopias of praise, praises
springing from the city like grass from the earth.
May he never be forgotten,
his fame shine on like sunshine.
May all godless people enter his circle of blessing
and bless the One who blessed them.
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