Fr. Paul Campbell’s Article for January 25

Neh 8:2-4, 5-6, 8-10                        1Cor 12: 4-11                        Luke 1: 1-4, 4:14-21

In Sunday’s gospel Jesus stands in the temple and reads a scroll of the prophet Isaiah that pertained to the arrival of the Messiah.  The passage said “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, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord”.  Jesus then rolled up the scroll sat down and told the people “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”.  He told the people that he was the one who could give them hope. For those of us who know the rest of the story this statement of Jesus is not difficult to believe.  We believe that Jesus was the Messiah.  However for those sitting and listening to Jesus the case was quite different.  In order to help you imagine what could have happened after Jesus’ announcement I need to tell a story.  As I am writing this we are in the midst of Philadelphia Eagles football fever so an Eagles football story is appropriate. In 1999 the Philadelphia Eagles were wandering through football wasteland.  They had gone through disappointing season after season and needed someone to lead them to the promised land, known as Houston  They needed a messiah, small “m”.  On the day the league draft was announced hopes were high, for the fans believed that the messiah would be a young man from Texas named Ricky Williams.  When the name Donavan McNabb was announced the reaction of many was shock..  The shock was expressed in boos and the boos turned to screams of anger and disappointment.  How could it be that the messiah could be this kid from Syracuse?  We all had our idea of who the messiah would be and we Donavan didn’t meet our expectations. Disgust filled the countryside.  Many felt management had betrayed us and the coach should be fired.  If you are honest enough to remember that moment then you can understand how the crowd reacted to Jesus’ announcement that the long awaited military leader of Israel who would defeat the Romans in battle was a part time carpenter and preacher from a backwater town.  It is easy to listen to this gospel today and say “it was so obvious that Jesus was the Messiah. How did they miss it?’ Hindsight is 20/20.  The challenge this gospel presents to us is to name those moments in our lives that we have been in the presence of God.    If you can’t I would like to make a few suggestions.  First of all, do you expect to encounter God in your life?  We have just concluded the Advent/Christmas season where we are told the people were full of expectation looking for the Messiah.  You can’t experience God if you don’t expect to. Can you name the people and events that have given you hope recently.  That is an experience of God.  Think about the out of the ordinary moment you have experienced recently.  Look also for the presence of God in the times when your life seems the darkest.  That is when God is closest. Unfortunately we can’t feel the presence because we are angry or disgusted at our perceived abandonment. And finally remember the words of Ezra in today’s first reading “do not be saddened this day for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”  The Messiah stands in our midst each day.  May God open our hearts to see him.