Mother Suzanne examines Jesus's inaugural sermon in Luke's Gospel, where he reads from Isaiah 61 and declares "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." She emphasizes that the same Spirit that empowered Jesus to bring good news to the poor, release to captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed also empowers us to continue this mission in our own lives and communities.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                         Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me
 to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
 and recovery of sight to the blind,
 to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 

Artwork: Christ in the Synagogue of Nazareth, 14th-century fresco from the Visoki Dečani monastery in Kosovo, dating to approximately 1350