A reading from the gospel according to Luke 4:21-30:
21 Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 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?”
23 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.’”
24 And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
25 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.
26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.
29 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.
30 But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
Reflection:
Jesus spoke of His mission and He sounded like music to the ears of His towns mate. When He spoke of the truth about people not accepting Him as a prophet, they became furious. We can see how easily the mood of people changes. The truth hurts indeed. Yet Jesus is telling us that truth can set us free. Let us allow Him to rebuke us for our sinfulness and let us be humble to accept our faults and be freed from guilt and shame.
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God can use anyone to spread His message. He can use our relatives, friends and towns mate. May we learn to accept them and listen to them even if they are too familiar to us and their faults and secrets are known to us. May we allow God to continue using them as His instrument for the completion of the work of salvation.
