1 John 4:19-5:4; Psalm 71; Luke 4:14-22
We continue reading today from St John’s passage on love. He again tells us to love much and he reminds us that if we do not love the one we see then we cannot love the One who is always present though unseen. He tells us that we must love our brother but in this John is not simply referring to our blood relations but to all peoples because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a strong reminder of the connection between love and faith. In today’s gospel text from St Luke we see Jesus reading in the synagogue. He reads from the Prophet Isaiah and tells the people that he is the fulfilment of the passage. We too are called on to “bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives...” It is a further manifestation that the One whose birthday we celebrated at Christmas is truly the Son of God and the promised Messiah.
We continue reading today from St John’s passage on love. He again tells us to love much and he reminds us that if we do not love the one we see then we cannot love the One who is always present though unseen. He tells us that we must love our brother but in this John is not simply referring to our blood relations but to all peoples because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a strong reminder of the connection between love and faith. In today’s gospel text from St Luke we see Jesus reading in the synagogue. He reads from the Prophet Isaiah and tells the people that he is the fulfilment of the passage. We too are called on to “bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives...” It is a further manifestation that the One whose birthday we celebrated at Christmas is truly the Son of God and the promised Messiah.