Sunday Meditation: The Fulfillment of the Scriptures

On the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C we get moving into the Gospel of Luke.  The Gospel reading actually leaps in its start.  It starts with the opening lines of the first chapter of Luke and then leaps into the fourth chapter where Jesus declares He is the fullfiment of the Word.

 

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events

that have been fulfilled among us,

just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning

and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,

I too have decided,

after investigating everything accurately anew,

to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,

most excellent Theophilus,

so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings

you have received.

 

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,

and news of him spread throughout the whole region.

He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

 

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,

and went according to his custom

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."

~Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21

Let’s get a complete background on the Gospel of Luke, it’s author, and today’s reading from the homilist that gives the best background and context, Fr. Geoffrey Plant.

Fr. Geoffrey gives us a lot of fascinating facts, but perhaps the most fascinating might be the distinguishing of how each Gospel initiates Jesus’s public ministry.  Let’s list them.

Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount

John: The Wedding Feast at Cana

Mark: The Casting Out of the Unclean Spirit at Capernaum

Luke: The Declaration of Fulfillment at the Synagogue at Nazareth

In back to back weeks, then, we have read two of the four initiations of Jesus’ public ministry.  Did you also hear the understanding of how one should interpret Biblical tests?  Through a twofold process of (1) exegesis and (2) hermeneutics.  Let’s also list Fr. Plant’s definition of both.

Exegesis: What did the text mean in the original context?

Hermeneutic: What does this the text saying to us now?

And now, Dr. Brant Pitre will provide the exegesis of the Gospel.

 

Are we not in a Jubilee year this year? 

Neither Fr. Geoffrey’s homily nor Dr. Pitre’s exegesis really served as a pastoral application of today’s Gospel, and I was going to skip it, but Fr. Cajetan Cuddy’s homily was so perfect as a pastoral application I have to include it.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Finally the hymn will be a brand new hymn, written very recent to celebrate the Jubilee year.  Here is the official hymn for the 2025 Jubilee, "Pilgrims of Hope".

 

 

Actually I see it’s already over a year old in composition.  Lyrics by Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri and music by Maestro Francesco Meneghello.  Recording performed by the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC,  Peter Latona, Director.