First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Jeremiah (1:4-5, 17-19)

The word of the Lord came to me saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. But gird your lions; stand up and tell them all that I command you. Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them; first it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land: Against Judah's kings and princes, against its priests and people. They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17)

(R) I will sing of your salvation.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me. (R)

Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. O my God, rescue me from the land of the wicked. (R)

For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength. (R)

My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation. O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (12:31-13:13)

Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding going or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I because an adult, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (4:21-30)

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" He said to them. "Surely you will quote me this proverb, "Physician, cure yourself." And say, "Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum." And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.

It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Isreal during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A boy bought a pair of bright coloured pants for his girlfriend on her birthday. Even though it was a bit expensive he was very delighted with his purchase. But the next day he went back to the shop to return it. The shopkeeper asked him, "Why are you returning it?" The boy replied, "I am sorry Sir. My girlfriend does not like it." After much persuasion he got his refund and returned home. A week later he was back again, all smiles, and wanted to buy the same pair of pants. The shopkeeper asked him, "Has your girlfriend changed her mind?" "No Sir. I have changed my girlfriend", the boy replied.

In the gospel we hear the story of the people of Nazareth who first spoke well of Jesus but turned against him very quickly and even tried to kill him. Why did they so quickly change their minds?

In dealing with the text, we have to keep in mind the larger context. Two weeks ago from the story of Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine we learned that Jesus did not perform the miracle merely to help the hosts avoid embarrassment but to "reveal His glory" and bring His disciples to belief in Him, John (2:11). After the miracle John writes, "Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples but they stayed there only a few days. When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem."

Capernaum played a very significant role in Jesus life because when he began his ministry he moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, Matthew (4:13-16), and made it his second home. The word Capernaum actually comes from two Hebrew words: kafar means "village" and nahum which is the name of a person and connotes consolation or comfort. It was an ancient prosperous little village located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. The inhabitants of the village were mainly fishermen, farmers and merchants.

It was the place from where Jesus called his first disciples, the fishermen Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. From this place Jesus travelled throughout Galilee and taught in the villages, on the mountains and in synagogues; and healed many people, including Peter's mother-in-law, Matthew (8:14-15), Mark (1:29-31) and Luke (4:38-39). All the four gospels attest that Jesus performed more miracles and preached more sermons in and around Capernaum than at any other place during His entire ministry. And yet Capernaum is one of the three places cursed by Jesus for its lack of faith.

It was while staying in Capernaum on the Sabbath day that Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth where he was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, written about 700 years before His birth. He read the passage, Isaiah (61:1-2), which referred to His own calling to "liberate the poor, to free the captives and the oppressed and to give sight to the blind and bring the lost to light". Until the time Jesus read the passage, it was just a message of hope which eventually would be fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus' words, of course, aroused expectations that the people had hoped for, for many centuries. Moreover, Jesus also declared that it was the year of the Lord's favor.

Today's gospel is a continuation of the passage from last week. The text, Luke (4:21-30), reveals the reaction of the people to Jesus after he had taught them by quoting the prophet Isaiah. There was nothing offensive in the text that Jesus expounded. It contained only promises of blessing and restoration of everything that was lost. So, they spoke well of him and were amazed by his gracious words and began to ask one another, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" Some scholars observe that their question perhaps showed their rejection and expressions of scorn and doubt for Him. They were suspicious that someone who grew up among them could possibly do the things that they had heard, and even more unlikely that he could bring about the future they were expecting. But others suggest that they marveled at his wisdom because he was one of their sons. However, Jesus knew there was some ulterior motive behind their response. They were proud and self-righteous.

That's why Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb, "Physician, cure yourself, and say, "Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did in Capernaum." In other words, they were willing to accept Jesus on their own terms. If he could do for them what he had done in nearby Capernaum because He is one of them, then they would give some thought to what he was talking about. But Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own native place." Jesus identified himself as a prophet and cited two examples from the Hebrew Bible about events in the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha to emphasize that God's purpose is to deliver all people, not just God's chosen people.

First, Jesus cited the story of Elijah which is found in the first Book of Kings (17:8-16). Once during the three and half years of drought in the days of King Ahab of North Israel, Yahweh told Elijah to go to Zarephath, a Phoenician town, to stay with a widow and her son. The widow was not an Israelite, not a member of God's chosen people, but this woman made a home for the prophet Elijah and Yahweh sustained her and her son while Elijah was there. Second, Jesus cited the well-known story of Elisha which is narrated in the second Book of Kings (5:1-19).

A Syrian named Naaman was a mighty, great, honorable and valiant man but a leper. The king of Syria who could not afford to lose such a man, sent Naaman to the king of Israel for healing who then sent him to Elisha and was eventually healed. Naaman was not an Israelite, not a member of God's chosen people, but Yahweh healed him, and then Naaman turned away from his own god Rimmon and worshipped Yahweh. The point of both stories is that God had worked before through prophets to help those outside of Israel, outside of the exclusive circle of the "chosen people". In so doing, Jesus also reminded them that his mission is to deliver people of all nations from their desperate situations. But as soon as Jesus identified himself in a prophetic role, he was no longer accepted with favor. Since His message was contrary to the earlier beliefs and understanding of the people of his own home town, they tried to kill him. Their hostile response foreshadowed the rejection that He would face.

Jesus, throughout his ministry, never directly challenged the selfishness of the people, nor directly tried to expand their narrow vision. One such example is the woman who had been accused of adultery. The men asked Jesus to judge the sinful woman. But Jesus called on the accusers to judge themselves instead of the woman. Often Jesus told stories from Israel's history, and let the people themselves bring their own condemnation as they applied the truth of the story to their own motives and attitudes.

What is the message for us?

Our Lord Jesus Christ works wonders and miracles not only for the baptized Christians but also for non-Christians so that they may also come to believe in Him.
As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, (10:23) says, "Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is trustworthy." If we draw near to God, He will surely reciprocate and draw near to us and will not cease to work wonders in our life.
God has given us the commandments through His prophets to help us live a godly and happy life. We are so fortunate because He has also given us a perfect living example in His Son, Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus to us so that we may learn from Him how to live and how to abide by God's rules.

However, God gives us the freedom to choose what we want. We alone can decide what we will do. We can choose to obey Him or freely reject Him to our own destruction. In choosing to follow God's instructions or to reject them we have the daily choice of heaven and hell; life and death.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

Content Options

share this homily via:

Top of Page