Jesus acted with the power of the Spirit; and on his return to Galilee, the news about him spread throughout all that territory. He began teaching
in the synagogues of the Jews and everyone praised him. When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he entered the synagogue
on the Sabbath, as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus then unrolled the scroll and
found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me, to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim liberty to
captives; and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed; and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.” Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the
attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them, “Today, these prophetic words come true,
even as you listen.”

Reflection:

In Christ, the Law has taken flesh and lived among us.
The Kingdom of God is not a distant reality yet to happen.
It already is, right among us. “The time has come”
(Mark 1:15), announces Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord is here;
not will be here. The Lord is (and not will be) my light and
salvation, as we have responded to the Responsorial
Psalm. So is the good news, liberty, new sight, freedom,
and mercy: They are all realities like the air we breathe. It
surrounds us. We only need to inhale it in. Once we do so
as a community, the “Body of Christ” becomes a lived experience.
[For Jesus ending the reading at “mercy,” see the reflection on January 6.]

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