Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Octoechos Tone 3; Beginning of the Indiction, that is, the New Year; Our Holy Father Symeon the Stylite (459) and his mother Martha; Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God of Miasenes
Polyeleos Feast
Read
1 Corinthians 15:1-11; 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Matthew 19:16-26; Luke 4:16-22
This event happened just after our Lord’s 40-day sojourn in the desert and His defeat of the tempter with his refusal to use His divine powers for Himself. At that time, the synagogue used a system of prescribed readings, just as we do today in our services. Jesus was somewhat confrontational with the authorities in that He did not read the assigned text; rather, He read from elsewhere in the Book of Isaiah, specifically what we today call Isaiah 61:1-2. The fact that He read this selection and then claimed for it to be fulfilled in their hearing made it clear that He was equal with God and on a mission for the one true God.
His mission? Bringing the good news to the poor! We must understand that He did not intend just the materially poor but also those who are spiritually poor, whether they be Gentile who did not have the Law of Moses or the Prophets, or Jewish who rejected the Prophets and focused on the dead letter of the Law in all its minor detail.
What is this good news to the poor? Freedom from captivity, sight to the blind, liberty from oppression, and healing to the broken-hearted. Christ came to give hope to the hopeless; He IS the hope of the hopeless!
Do I find myself as part of the poor? Am I one who needs sight because I am blind? Am I one who is oppressed and seeks liberty? Is my heart broken and does it need mending? In order to receive all that Jesus proclaims, I will need to identify myself with the poor—I am spiritually poor.
Do I find myself in the year of the Lord’s favour, one that is much desired and awaited, a year in which the Lord moves in my life? Does His presence permeate all aspects of my life (our lives)? Do I imitate Him in bringing hope to the hopeless, of loving others as He loves us? Is this Scripture fulfilled in my life?