the power of the Spirit in Jesus 3rd sunday c

Jesus returned to Galilee as Luke narrates in the power of the Spirit.  What is this in power of the Spirit.  In Nazareth, Luke narrates also that Jesus read a passage from Isaiah which speaks again of the same Spirit whose presence in him anoints him with power to bring glad tidings to the poor, 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.  What is this power of the Spirit that is in Jesus?  What can it do? What is it capable of doing?

The power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus is a peculiar kind of power because it is a power that does not benefit himself or at least it is a power which he never uses to benefit himself.  This power of the Spirit in Jesus is demonstrated not in what it can do to ease his sufferings on the cross, it is demonstrated not in what it can do to make his cross lighter.  No, that is not the power of the Spirit in Jesus.  This power of the Spirit in Jesus is demonstrated not to undo the inconveniences and hardships of his life for despite the possibilities which his power as God can do he never used this to enrich his family in Nazareth.  No.   His father Joseph was still a carpenter.  In fact there are so many apocryphal gospels telling of his magical powers when he was a child and when he grew up to be an apprentice to his carpenter father.  Kon magsala iya takos kag na-utod na niya ang kahoy for example, he would silently pull the wood and it would grow back magically to its intended length or he would just simply re-connect it restoring what he had just cut.  Daw magic.  These gospels were rejected by early Christian communities precisely because they do not speak of the real Jesus, they do not speak of the real power of the Spirit in Jesus.

So what is this power of the Spirit in Jesus which Luke speaks of?  What can this power do?  The power of the Spirit in Jesus is shown only through what it accomplishes for others.  This power in Jesus is power because it sets others free.  This power in Jesus is power because it builds up others.  This power of the Spirit in Jesus is power when it is used for the betterment not of himself but of those around him.

Do you know that a priest has the power to forgive sins, all sins, whatever sins except his own sin?  He cannot forgive his own sin.  He has to confess to other priests.

In Church history do you know that the evil that did most harm to the church were the evil of using her power and prestige to enrich herself and her ministers through simony, when the cardinalate and bishoprics went to the highest bidder, when indulgences, the power to erase temporal punishments, were given in exchange of money?

The power of the priesthood is never for oneself.  Never use your power as priest to enrich yourself or your family.  Never abuse the power of the priesthood to take advantage of others.  Our power as priest, like Jesus, is given always for the benefit of others, a power that sets others free, a power that builds up others, a power that is used for the betterment not of oneself but of those around us.

I have heard, and I hope I heard wrong, that something did not go well with our kapihan last week.  At a certain point they could not account for 400 pesos, then after a while they could not account for 700 pesos more.  When a person is empowered and abuses it, and uses the occasion to his own advantage, then something is really wrong with our concept of power and empowerment.  It makes us so unlike Jesus.  It makes our community so unlike Jesus.