“The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me.”
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
All eyes in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and He found the place where it is written: “The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me.” This was the moment they were waiting for and they were making sure that they didn’t miss a beat.
The spirit of the Lord is on me too, but I do not know it. The spirit of the Lord has also anointed me, and I do not feel it. I heard it said, uttered quietly by the priest in the waters of baptism, again and again, year after year, but I did not listen, meaning was lost in the anxiety of the celebration. And then the mission: ‘Anointed to proclaim the good news to the poor’…Oh my! Unheard of.
The spirit comes to me through listening. Deep listening causes a sea-change because it unleashes a mission that changes everything. It’s like a tsunami that alters forever the contours of the sea coast.