Proclamation, Provision, Promise

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor…” (Luke 4:18)

This verse is the heartbeat of Christ’s public ministry - a mission of mercy, healing, and hope. By the nature of the Church as Christ's bride, it's also the heartbeat of her public ministry. It’s no coincidence that the works of mercy so often echo this Scripture: to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the brokenhearted, and proclaim freedom for the oppressed.

My piece Glad Tidings was the first that I was asked to create by Catholic Charities of Idaho, inspired by this very mission. It’s a visual proclamation of that bold Gospel call: to lift up the lowly and remind them that God has not forgotten them. Christ did not come for the rich, nor for the religious authorities of the time - early in His public ministry, He proclaimed that He was sent for the poor.

Good Gifts, drawn from James 1:17, reminds us of the source of all goodness: “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” It’s a reminder that everything we offer - every meal, every prayer, every act of service - is not just human effort. It is God’s grace at work in us. The Church’s charity is not merely a social service; it is the outpouring of God's own goodness into the world through our hands.

And finally, Jubilee. Inspired by Luke 4:19: “to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” The Jubilee, in Jewish tradition, was a time of release and restoration: debts forgiven, captives freed, land returned. This passage is a continuation from Glad Tidings, and consists of Our Lord reading from the prophet Isaiah. When Christ reads this passage in the synagogue, He is not just speaking ancient words - He is announcing that He is the Jubilee. In Him, the deepest bondage - our slavery to sin - is broken. In Him, the poor receive far more than material relief; they receive dignity, identity, and the promise of eternity.

Each piece stands on its own, but together they form a story: of proclamation, of provision, and of promise. Glad tidings… Good gifts… Jubilee.

My prayer for you and for myself today is simple: that we might live these truths. In our parishes, our families, our neighborhoods. In quiet, without drawing attention to ourselves but giving glory only to God above. May we become bearers of glad tidings, givers of good gifts, and heralds of the Jubilee that is Christ.