By David Peter csc –
Readings: 1 Jn 4: 19-5:4; Lk 4:14-22
In the first reading John speaks about love. Love is the core element of our Christian life. Our true love for God is manifested in our daily life by loving our brothers and sisters. Through love we become the children of God, he becomes the Father of us all and we obey his commandments. The incident in the gospel reading of the day appears immediately after the temptation of Jesus. After the temptation, Jesus begins his Galilean ministry being filled with the power of the Spirit. This gives us an assurance that always after the great trials and challenges we will find solace and be filled with the Spirit.
We all of us have received the Lord’s Spirit at baptism. In receiving baptism we share the common priesthood and we renew ourselves through the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit at
the sacrament of confirmation. The second part of today’s gospel gives us a clear view of our role as a person filled with the Spirit.
The Lord’s Spirit is bestowed upon us to bring good news to the poor and bring life to them through our words and deeds. It is by loving God and others that we proclaim and practice the good news. Let us introspect as persons filled with Lord’s Spirit. Have I brought good news to myself and others? If not let us seek the grace of Lord’s Spirit upon us to love and to be loved.