We have all heard the expression “talk is cheap” or “put your money where your mouth is.” We know that much of the rhetoric in political campaigns never become reality after an election. Words are meaningless unless they are put into action . In today’s gospel passage, we have an example of someone, Jesus, who brings his words into action. Jesus reads WORDS from the prophet Isaiah: “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.” Then Jesus says, in effect, these are not empty words. He says, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” The rest of the Gospel, the Good News, is about Jesus bringing these words to life. He does give hope to the poor. He does set people free. He does heal. He does proclaim a message and lives a life that is acceptable to God. He lives his life in harmony with the will of the Father. The challenge for you and me is to do what we say. To live what we say we believe . To practice what we preach. To live what we celebrate at Mass. We are called to live the truth we speak.
©2013 Eugene S. Ostrowski
