TOPIC: BRING GLAD TIDINGS TO THE POOR
3C SUNDAY HOMILY, LUKE 1:1-4; 4:14-21 JANUARY 23, 2022
1. STORY
As
John was about to finish high school, he spent time thinking about what he
would do in the future. One day while attending a retreat in his Catholic high
school, he read a small book entitled “You Can Change the World.” The author
wrote that if you can introduce a person to Jesus, and that person accepts
Jesus, that person would change. If one person changes, then the world begins
to change. This sounded very reasonable to John. He learned that the task of a
missioner was to introduce people to Jesus. He now knew what he would do in the
future. He would become a missioner so that he could bring changes to the world.
2. GOSPEL, LUKE 1:1-4, 4:14-21
A.
LUKE ATTEMPTS TO TEACH HIS FRIEND ABOUT JESUS.
St.
Luke wanted to teach his friend about Jesus. To do this he wrote the Gospel of
Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
B.
JESUS KNEW WHAT HIS MISSION WAS.
One
day, as was his custom, Jesus when teaching in the synagogue, he selected and
read a passage from Isaiah about someone who would come with the mission of
telling others the good news about salvation and helping people. Jesus told the
people this was his mission.
3. APPLICATION TO LIFE
A.
LEARN MORE ABOUT JESUS.
Here
are two suggestions on how to learn more about Jesus.
i)
Try to read the Gospel of Luke during the year. Plan to read a chapter a week.
ii)
Another suggestion is to read the other book written by St. Luke, the Acts of
the Apostles. This book tells us about the growth of the Catholic Church after
the Ascension of Jesus.
B.
OUR MISSION IS TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS.
i)
At our baptism, we were given the responsibility of bringing glad tidings to
the many spiritually poor. The spiritually poor are those who are sad, unhappy,
or lonely. They are not sure of the purpose of life, how to get help, or are
just hopeless about everything.
ii)
We can share the good news about Jesus by being kind to them, by showing them
we care, or by inviting them to study the doctrine leading to baptism.
4. CONCLUSION
After
reading the book, “You Can Change the World”, John felt he was called by God to
be a missioner. St. Luke wrote the Gospel to teach his friend about Jesus.
Jesus told the people in the synagogue that his mission was to bring good
tidings to the poor. We should try to know more about Jesus by reading the
Gospel of Luke or any other section of the bible. We, as did Jesus, have the
responsibility of bringing the good news to the spiritually poor. We thank
Jesus for his instruction. We ask him for help to faithfully carry out this
mission of bringing good tidings to the spiritually poor.
