At the end of St. Matthew’s gospel right before his Ascension Jesus gives some marching orders. His followers are to preach, to teach and to baptize. That serves as the mission statement of the Church. We start reading today from St. Luke’s gospel when Jesus begins his public ministry in his home town of Nazareth. He gives his mission statement by reading from the prophet Isaiah: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. The Church today is challenged to make Jesus’ mission statement our own. We should not limit our mission to preaching, teaching and baptizing but instead imitate Jesus and bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty, help people to see, and promote freedom.
