Ezra and his party read and interpreted the Law to those who had just returned from exile in Babylon. They broke down and wept when they realized how far they had strayed from God's path. Ezra and the Levites told them not to weep but to rejoice. It was a new day and new beginning - go forward from today on the straight path. We need to do the same rather than looking at the past and condemning ourselves over and over again. The day in which we choose to return to God's ways should always be an occasion of rejoicing. Paul uses the image of the body to describe the community. Just as no body part is unimportant and each has a unique function, so no one in the household of God is unimportant. Each has their own unique gifts. We are all equals and part of the same body; we feel the pain and joy of all. This is a good cure for selfishness, isolation, or 'feeling special.'

Luke was looking for confirmation of the gospel proclaimed to Theophilus so that his faith could be secure. He found it in the proclamation that Jesus made in the synagogue: good news, healing, forgiveness, and new life. That passage from Isaiah defined his entire ministry. Today the only convincing evidence or proof for our Christian faith is the lives that have been touched and transformed by the Lord. Whenever we touch the lives of others we too proclaim the Good News.