Jesus read the passage from Isaiah where the prophet announces the coming of the Lord, who will free his people of their afflictions. In Christ, this prophecy finds its fulfillment, for he is the Anointed, the Messiah whom God has sent to his people in their tribulation. The Holy Spirit has anointed Jesus for the mission the Father has entrusted to him. Saint Pope John Paul ll writes, “These phrases, according to Luke, are his first messianic declaration. They are followed by the actions and words known through the Gospel. Christ makes the Father present among men through these actions and words.” The words of Isaiah, which Christ read out on this occasion, describe very graphically the reason why God has sent his Son into the world—to redeem men from sin, to liberate them from slavery to the devil and from eternal death. It is true that in the course of his public ministry, Christ, in his mercy, worked many cures, cast out devils, etc. But he did not cure all the sick people in the world, nor did he eliminate all forms of distress in this life, because pain, which entered the world through sin, has a permanent redemptive value when associated with the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, Christ worked miracles not so much to release the people concerned from suffering as to demonstrate that he had a God-given mission to bring everyone eternal redemption. The Church carries on this mission of Christ as written in the Gospel of Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” These simple and sublime words, which conclude the words of the Apostle Matthew, point out the obligation to preach the truths of faith, the need for sacramental life, and the promise of Christ’s continual assistance to his Church. You cannot be faithful to our Lord if you neglect these supernatural demands to receive instruction in Christian faith and morality and to frequent the sacraments. It is with this mandate that Christ founded his Church.