
Luke 4:14-22
Introductory Prayer:
Lord, welcome into the temple of my soul. I
know that you will root up and tear down, heal and sanctify, making there a holy and righteous place
that has always been intended for you. Only you have the power to unlock the sanctuary of my heart;
only you build what will last forever. I trustfully open my entire self to you now, so that your
words can shape my thoughts, so that your love can penetrate my heart, so that no disorder of soul
may remain in me.
Petition:
Lord, grant me a greater reverence for you.
1. He Returned in the Power of the Spirit:
The Spirit appears in the world to
unite heaven's plan to that of earth, and it does so here with every move of Christ. Christ's whole
mission is nothing other than the fulfillment of the passage he reads. Our vocation in life is
nothing other than fulfilling our baptismal commission by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord shows himself,
therefore, to be no one-man show. He, the Son, is sent and works in communion with the Father and
the Holy Spirit, and from here all his fruitfulness and power flows. Our mission must truly make us
feel "sent". It compels us to bear fruit through acts of obedience and love. Heaven seeks to deliver
its plan to me in this prayer. May I be attentive to all that the Holy Spirit prompts me to do.
2. "He Unrolled the Scroll, Today This Passage Is Fulfilled in Your Hearing":
Man is given a response to the eternal question found in Revelation 5:2: "Who is worthy to
open the scroll and break its seals?" Contemplate this solemn moment when the Word reveals
himself among men: Many could read from the scroll, but only one was worthy to unlock its salvific
power. Many could recite the texts, but only one could set them ablaze in their hearts. Many could
preach with fascination, but only one could satisfy their hunger for the fullness of truth. Our
words are an empty breath without Christ's voice; our labors are to no end, if our actions are not
Christ's. Only one person by right can change the human heart, and we in truth can only be apostles
when Christ is the one who moves our hand.
3. All Were Amazed at the Words That Came from
His Mouth:
The precise nature of these words is not revealed to us here, as if to mean that
the person of Christ himself is the revelation. Christ, in the totality of his person, comes to
lighten our burdens and lift our spirits in a way no teaching, no miraculous event, no cure left to
itself ever could. Divine providence has secured for us many goods in life, but all goods fail us if
they do not come with Christ in all the power and intimacy that is God-among-us.
Conversation with Christ:
Lord, I seek to revere you and honor you as the
center
of my life. I work now with a holy ambition to ensure
your throne is firmly
established in my heart. Teach
me to let nothing usurp what belongs to you in my
life. Let
me not build a life of empty self-sufficiency,
lest I lose the experiences of your power and
grace I could have.
Resolution:
I will visit our Lord in the Eucharist
today for the sake of honoring him for his greatness and thanking him for his active presence in my
life.
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