Daily Readings: Is. 20:2-21:6; Gal. 4:3-18; Lk. 4:14-23
Ընթերցուածքներ` Եսայ. Ի 2- ԻԱ 6; Գաղ. Դ 3-18; Ղկ. Դ 14-23
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Sitting in an interview, James nervously answered each question he was given. “What are your strengths? What are your challenges? Why makes you fit for this position?” Then the final question – “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Most of us my dears, have faced these questions. Whether in a job interview or in our self-reflections, we have in some way pondered about our strengths, our weakness or challenges, about what makes us a good fit and ultimately, where we see ourselves in the future. Yet, the truthfully, I wonder if we have ever placed these questions within the context of our faith. Within the daily practice of being a Christian, how many of us have wondered where our strength is, where do we still need to strengthen? And knowing ourselves, have we ever thought why would God place me in the position or environment I am in? And where does this all lead?
Throughout the Holy Scriptures, we read of how God repeatedly chooses the most unlikely candidates. King David, who was a shepherd, Joseph – a rejected brother who would rule over Egypt, Moses – an adopted son who had a speech impediment; what about Rehab, who was a prostitute but who later helped the Israelites win their war; or even the 12 Apostles, fishermen, tax-collectors, murderers, and rebels. None which in a job interview would be the preferable candidate, and yet, God chose them. Each with strengths certainly but with weakness and challenges that would make us pause and think – clearly, they are not the best fit. Yet, all who, when they trusted God, saw the fruitfulness of their faith not measured in years but in growth of faith. And this my dears, is where we fit.
God our Heavenly Father, has a place for each one of us. Christ Jesus died for you and I, calling each of us towards a meaning and purpose. When we respond to God, when we through confession, repentance, prayer and humility trust God, the Holy Spirit descends upon us and guides us to understanding that meaning and purpose. In the Gospel today we read of how Christ in the Synagogue read the words of Isaiah (Is. 61), “the spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sign to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (v.18-19) Christ here is revealing to us, why He has come into the world – to preach to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, acceptance to the oppressed and declare the year of the Lord. And yet, Christ is also revealing to us, that when the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, we too are charged with this meaning and purpose.
The poor to whom Christ has come to are not merely the materially impoverished – but the Gentiles, those who do not have the laws, the prophets, those who don’t know about the love of God. There are plenty in the world who do not know this love today, and we are called to preach to them through the life we live. The brokenhearted to whom Christ comes to heal, are the Israelites who though they were the chosen people, have placed their trust in others, leaving them hurt. There are plenty in our own families, Church communities, who are baptized, or who came to Church at one point and yet, have now gone astray and are searching for something deeper. To them we are often the only example, the only invitation to come back. The captives Christ liberates, the oppressed are those who have fallen victim to the lies of this world; politics, material wealth, sex, drugs and money. Those who believe freedom is in these things and yet, who have now become slaves to those. It is to them we are sent out to be an example of, in our weakness, in our own shortcomings, to show that true freedom is only through Christ. The blind are those who can’t see their errors, things I just mentioned. That their trust is misguided, that they are trapped, and hurt in darkness. Yet, by the light of God, their paths are illuminated.
Yes, this is why Christ has come, and this is why Christ calls us. To live faithfully, and purposefully. And before we worry that these are too lofty or difficult. My dears, it is only by the Holy Spirit, says, St. Irenaeus, that we can live in this way. The Holy Spirit that anointed David as King, gave Joseph wisdom as a ruler, that guided Moses through the desert, or moved Rehab’s heart to the truth, and descended upon the Jordan River, and upon the Apostles in the Upper room, the same Holy Spirit that descends upon us in our baptism. How we live therefore, by that Spirit, is how we faithfully fulfill our purpose my dears. “We must love others and pray that no soul be lost, that all may enter into the Church.” (St. Porphyrios) By loving ourselves and repenting, by loving our children and teaching, by loving others through how we treat neighbors and peers or the strangers in the street, those who are different than us, who are on the wrong path, who are blind to the truth, who have become slaves to their darkness. Love of God liberates us not litigation of policy.
My dears, what are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What makes us fit for this position? Knowing my past my dears, I often wonder why God allowed me to become a priest. Perhaps some of us, if not all of us, knowing our own past, might wonder how God could ever use us? Through His love for us, Christ Jesus, reminds us, that when the Holy Spirit is upon us, it is no longer us but God’s light through us. And when we are faithful, 1 year from now, 5 years from now, 10 or how ever many years we have left on this earth, what we will see is the year of the Lord (v. 19) declared. We will become the reason and person God uses for His Holiness. In humility, prayer and repentance ask for wisdom, understanding and hope. Love and pray for all, so that as one body, as the Holy Church, as the children of our Heavenly Father, we will bring glory to Him, with the Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
