Jesus' maiden speech

A persistent complaint one often hears from those who attend Sunday Mass relates to the homily: the preacher is not well prepared, the topic is uninteresting and always the same, the delivery is dull.

Such complaints, while at best being sometimes well founded, are at worst an expression of one's lack of sufficient attention to what is being said and an implicit excuse for not attending Sunday Mass regularly.

This was certainly not the case with the story Luke narrates in today's Gospel. At the time of Christ, too, one can be sure, there must have been pious persons attending the synagogue who might have shared the same negative impression as many of our Christians today.

But in today's narrative by Luke we read that the congregation had for once remained deeply impressed by the knowledge and skill displayed by a young preacher who was in the audience at the synagogue and who had picked enough courage to stand there facing the congregation to explain the Scriptures. That preacher was a young man by the name of Jesus, who was preaching there in the synagogue for the first time.

As if that were not enough, what struck the congregation's attention most on that day were his concluding words: "These words from the Scriptures which you have just heard are being fulfilled in front of you at this very moment." In fact the words he had just pronounced were taken from the book of Isaiah and ran: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; He has anointed me and sent me out to preach the gospel to the poor, to set the oppressed at liberty, and to announce a year of grace."

Every sermon we hear from the pulpit is the word of God which, while in a sense being always the same, will only bear fruit if it falls on fertile ground. It is always a moment of grace for us. It does not only give light and knowledge as to what the will of God is in our regard, but also carries with it the strength enabling us to accept it into our heart and allowing it to yield good fruit. And this power is God's grace, the grace which Jesus Christ has won for us to change and sanctify us and lead us to eternal salvation.

As I have hinted above, one hears many complaints with regard to our preachers and the quality of their sermons. Unfortunately there is often much truth in such remarks. Whenever a lecture or a sermon is being delivered, in a church as everywhere else, it is always the same thing that takes place: all hear, many listen, few respond.

To which category do we belong? Here comes to mind a particular type of remark I heard some time ago about some preachers: "First they say what they are going to say, then they say it, and finally they say that they have said it."

Whatever basis there may be in so unkind a remark, when all is said and done, one must admit that whenever a sermon is being delivered, whether it be in a church, in a hall or anywhere else, the fact remains that the words uttered by the preacher or lecturer are ultimately God's word.

More than on the preacher, our criticism should be addressed to ourselves. A good delivery is always important and can be very effective indeed, but still more important is my positive disposition always to discover what God himself is trying to tell me.