MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME AUGUST 30, 2021

MASS READINGS:

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Lk 4:16-30

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “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, “Is this not 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 Israel 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.

REFLECTION

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.

There was a great deal of expectation by the people in the synagogue. They had heard that Jesus, a native Nazarean, was in the synagogue and with anticipation they attended and listened. They had heard of all that He had done in the surrounding villages and so they were amazed in His words and there was a high likelihood that similar miracles would happen in Nazareth. Soon.....

However, the message they received was not what they wanted to hear. They were there to see and receive, and were not interested in the content and the spirit of the message. They were impressed with His intelligence and speaking skills but they doubted Him because of His background.

It is in human weakness, that God the Father shows He is rich in love and mercy. He brings to us His power but He must also create in us the means to respond to His love and mercy. The Nazareans were not there yet. They doubted, were prejudiced and were quick to anger. Their refusal to believe the Messianic message did not allow them to receive Jesus as their Savior.

May we allow Jesus to work in our hearts so that we can be rich in His graces.

God Bless You