Good News for the Poor
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... to proclaim good news.”
Claretian missionary priest Maximino Cerezo Barredo is considered by many to be THE artist of Liberation Theology in Latin America. His paintings blend traditional religious imagery with the bright colors and vibrant themes of folk art, and intersecting with scenes of everyday poor people in their everyday lives.
Here is his Cristo de la Liberacion, where Christ steps forward, leading the way for his latter day people — among who are a construction worker, a teacher, a banana farmer, a musician and (believe it or not) a priest. He bears the marks of having been brutalized already by the powers and principalities of this world: this is the Risen Christ, whom death can no longer hold; and his people, therefore, a people whom hell can no longer threaten. His outstretched arms are a posture of blessing and of prayer; but also of peace, and of surrender. Paradoxically, it is a defiant surrender; a surrender that does not cower for mercy, but continues to move forward.
The people following him are trying, to various degrees, to inhabit the same posture as their Lord and leader , but none have his poise or confidence. And yet, they move forward: surrounded by the loving embrace of the Father, and the luminous presence of the Spirit. Before them, the chains of injustice are breaking, and the rods of oppression bend and break. It is a picture of the People of God taken up into the Body of his Son, and therein his work and witness in this world.
They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
— The Servant of God Nehemiah (Neh 8:8)
The Third Sunday of Epiphany
Texts for this Week
Prayer
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Every Nation Sees the Glory …
Though a recent hymn, Francis O’Brien’s Epiphany Carol (2002) is a new classic of the season: a rich renarration of the deep themes of Epiphany. The yearning for unity in the world in the light revealed in Jesus Christ is especially poignant … and especially timely.
Gather, God, the world together in the brightness of your day.
Fill our hearts with joy forever, help us walk the holy way.
May your justice rule the nations; may all people live as one.
Now we see our true salvation in the glory of your Son.
The hymn is sung to the old Sacred Harp tune, Beach Spring. There aren’t a lot of excellent recordings of it to date; the video linked here is adequate. For varied aural imagination, here is the tune performed by the Hymn Keepers group on guitar and dulcimers; and here is the Irish group performing the tune in the Sacred Harp style.
