Today This Scripture is Fulfilled in Your Hearing

by Deacon Lorna Goodison on January 20, 2022

This Sunday, we hear in the Old Testament lesson (Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10) and the gospel (Luke 4:14-21) two hope-filled readings. In the first reading, God’s people, broken and discouraged from seventy years of exile, returned to their homeland and began rebuilding devastated communities. But they thirsted for more than physical homes. They thirsted for God. They had not heard God’s word in seventy years. The people assembled for worship, and Ezra the priest read from the Torah and interpreted the readings. They had a worship service that lasted from early morning to midday! God’s word was so refreshing and enlightening, that it convicted and revived the people’s souls.  

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus was also at the center of a worship assembly. This time in the synagogue of his hometown, Nazareth. Filled with the Holy Spirit after his baptism and temptation, Jesus is asked to read the Scripture and He gave authoritative voice to the prophecies of Isaiah 61: 1 &2 and 58:6. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…”  All were amazed at Jesus' authoritative words. He ended His reading by proclaiming, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

For generations, the people had anticipated the coming of the Messiah to establish a great kingdom. Now here comes a hometown boy, claiming that he is the fulfillment of the Messianic hope. Filled with grace, compassion, and power Jesus declared Himself the Expected One, standing visibly in the presence of the people. He is the One sent from God to lead all people to God’s glory today: not a future hope, but a present reality. Jesus is anointed to bring the good news that through Him, today we can be liberated from sin, blindness, and all oppression of the mind, body, and soul. Our eyes can be opened to new horizons of God’s beauty, glory, power, and majesty. 

This weekend’s readings challenge us to consider why we attend Church. Is it to receive spiritual nourishment to simply take us through the week? While we do receive spiritual nourishment, we attend Church to accept God’s invitation into a higher calling. God invites us to direct our heart, soul, and mind to taste the goodness of our loving God in Christ through the Word and the Sacrament; to hear God’s Word and apply it to our lives, and experience the enlightenment of the Spirit’s movement, today. We are called to attentively consider the power of God’s action in and for us as we hear the Eucharistic Prayers of Consecration and ingest the Body and Blood of Christ. May we increase in zeal and thirst for the living God in Christ today, and drink of the joy of the Lord that we become channels for spreading the good news of fulfilled hope to the world.  “Now is the day of salvation.”

Tags: worship, god, service, scripture, good news, thirst, assembly, spiritual nourishment

About the Author
Deacon Lorna Goodison

Reverend Lorna Goodison was ordained to the Diaconate on April 29, 2007. After discerning a call to ordained ministry, Deacon Lorna completed a process of spiritual discernment and pursued three years of study at the Diocesan School for Christian Studies. She also completed three units of hospice care training through Vitas and for a short while she was a volunteer Chaplain. Highlights of her continuing education activities include a guided visit to Israel and attending the Festival of Homiletics in Boulder, Colorado.

Soon after her ordination, Deacon Lorna was called to serve as Deacon at St. Mary Magdalene. She initiated an outreach ministry to the homeless at St. Laurence Chapel, obtaining the support and involvement of most members of the congregation. This ministry remained a vibrant outreach of the Church until the Chapel closed in 2019.  Other outreach ministries formed include an informal group of members who stay in touch with members who are ill and shut-in. Deacon Lorna remains committed to both the in-reach and outreach ministries of the Church. She has led quiet day reflections for groups within and outside of St. Mary Magdalene. She has often led Deacon’s Masses at small churches without a priest. Of all the ministries in which Deacon Lorna participates, she is most humbled and grateful to be involved in the ministry of praying with congregants facing life’s challenges.

Deacon Lorna serves the Diocese of Southeast Florida as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. She also serves on the Board of Deacons.   

Professionally, Deacon Lorna worked for some years in Human Resource Departments as a Training Manager, but most of her working years were spent in Social Work. She worked with at-risk teenagers counselling them and guiding them to resources to build a meaningful future. The last twenty years of her profession, were spent working with Seniors, guiding them to the resources needed to maintain their safety and independence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master’s degree in Adult Education. She is now retired, cherishes some alone time for prayer and reflection, but divides her time between the Church and her family which consists of two daughters, their husbands and three grandchildren.

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