Anointed for Action

The following was a homily that Fr. Wainio preached on the third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Sunday, January 26th, 2025)

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.

My friends, these words are among the most powerful for the Jewish people of Jesus’ time—and even today. They speak of the great Spirit of the Lord that will fill the Messiah to come, anointing Him with the power to accomplish marvelous deeds. Imagine the surprise of the people in the synagogue where Jesus was preaching when He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” For the Jewish people, the Messiah was yet to come. They would have been in utter shock and amazement upon hearing these words from Jesus' mouth.

Yet Jesus knew exactly what He was saying. We, as Catholic Christians today, know that Jesus is the Messiah—anointed and filled with the Spirit of God. Guess what? So are we!

We have all been anointed with the same Spirit that anointed Jesus. At our baptism, we were anointed to share in the very life and ministry of Jesus: Priest, Prophet, and King. That’s right—all of us sitting here in this church today share the same anointing and Spirit given to Jesus. We are called to participate in our own priesthood, prophethood, and kingship. By taking the name Christian, we are challenged to stand up for our beliefs and truly live out what it means to be followers of Christ.

We are called to be like Jesus: to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to help the blind recover their sight, and to do everything in our power to set the oppressed free. We have a duty to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. And I hate to tell you this—but we aren’t doing a very good job of it.

As Christians, we are anointed to go out into the world—our country, our local communities—and boldly proclaim that we, as Christians, refuse to promote or tolerate hatred. We will stand up and defend life—not just in delivery rooms at the beginning of life, but also in hospital rooms, on death row, and everywhere in between. Being pro-life extends far beyond pregnancy, and yet our world and governments often fail to grasp this truth.

We are anointed to stand with our brothers and sisters, no matter their social status, sexual orientation, income, race, creed, faith, or gender. We are Christians! We must tell the world that we will not stand for anyone to be treated without human dignity. Every person—including government leaders and even those crossing our borders—is made in the image and likeness of God.

I don’t know about you, but as a Christian and a Catholic priest, I will stand up and say: I will not tolerate anyone’s human dignity being degraded or diminished because of the papers they do—or don’t—have to be in this country.

As Christians, we are anointed to be the best versions of ourselves—the people God created us to be. We are called to use the gifts God has given us to help build His Kingdom here on earth. We are called to excel in our professions—whether as teachers, cashiers, doctors, garbage collectors, lawyers, maintenance workers, or laborers. God gave us these gifts, and we have worked hard to nurture and perfect them. God doesn’t make mistakes. There is no way He intends for us to use our gifts for discrimination, bigotry, unrest, or division.

We have been anointed! But are we acting like it? Are we using our gifts as we should?

I know what you’re thinking. You’re sitting there thinking, “I feel very uncomfortable…”

Good! That’s one of my goals. We should feel uncomfortable, because we can—and must—do better as Christians.

Remember, Jesus left people feeling uncomfortable too. Recall those in the synagogue: the Gospel tells us that all eyes were intently fixed on Him. I can imagine it looked a lot like how you are all looking at me right now. The people were uncomfortable. Jesus made people uncomfortable. But in doing so, He got His point across. He ministered to all kinds of people, and He never left anyone unchanged. Everyone whom Jesus healed, ministered to, or even just met was changed for the better.

Think about the people Jesus encountered: sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, criminals, those possessed by evil spirits, the sick, the homeless, and those in prison. Not once did He ask for their immigration papers, their health insurance card, their tax returns, or a campaign donation before helping them.

We are Christians! We are Catholics! We are daughters and sons of God. We are anointed to do the work of Jesus here on earth. We are anointed to share in His ministry as Priest, Prophet, and King.

The decision is yours.

You have been handed a scroll today. Will the passage be fulfilled in your hearing?

Peace,