Preaching the Mystery of Faith

notes was “according to his custom”), Jesus chooses the passage from Isaiah 61, which proclaims God’s liberating justice: “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, and to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” As the entire congregation hangs on his words, Jesus rolls up the scroll, hands it back to the attendant, and dramatically proclaims: “Today this scripture pas sage is fulfilled in your hearing.” So here at the outset of Luke’s Gospel, we can find in the inaugural pro phetic preaching of Jesus a connection to the Church’s ongoing mission, including the particular circumstances of our own day and the need for evan gelization. Proclaiming the message of the Kingdom preached by and embod ied in Jesus’ person and mission is intrinsically linked to the Church’s mission of justice, a constant and powerful message, amplified in a strong way in the teaching of recent popes. A straight line can be drawn from the call for justice on behalf of those who are vulnerable in the Old Testament (“the widow, the orphan, and the stranger”) to the fulfillment of that mission of compassion and justice in the ministry of Jesus (and taught in the ongoing Magisterium of the Church). The Church’s urgent call for respect for human life, partic ularly for those who are most vulnerable, the call for justice for the poor and the migrant, the condemnation of oppression and violations of human and religious freedom, and the rejection of violence as an ordinary means of solv ing conflicts are some of the controversial issues that need to be part of the Church’s catechesis and to find their way in an appropriate manner into the Church’s liturgical preaching. 23 Luke’s beautiful account of the Risen Christ’s encounter with two of his followers on the road to Emmaus (24:13-35) also provides powerful insights into the ministry of liturgical preaching. Two discouraged disciples leave Jeru salem after the events of Good Friday, their hopes that Jesus was the promised redeemer of Israel having apparently been proven to be in vain. The entire momentum of the Gospel of Luke leans toward Jerusalem, the city of the Pas sion and Death of Jesus, the city of the Resurrection and the sending of the Spirit. Yet these two disappointed and confused disciples are heading away from Jerusalem. At the same time, we know that they cannot forget Jesus, who had captured their hearts and fired their hopes. On their way they discuss

23 See CIC, c. 768 §2; CCEO, c. 616 §2.

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