Shutterstock: © Image ID: 1246041673. By Mick Harper. A small rough wooden table with Torah Scroll in the
Synagogue in the open air museum of Nazareth Village Israel. This site gives a look at the life and times of Jesus in 1st Century Nazareth.
Used under license.
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
Psalm 71:1-6, 15-17. "I will sing of your salvation."
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Luke 4:21-30
++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-4c-episode-138 (EPISODE: 138)
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This weekend’s gospel could be entitled: “How quickly a friendly crowd can turn nasty.”
Homily Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019
This weekend’s gospel could be entitled: “How quickly a friendly crowd can turn nasty.”
The wonderful second reading can be used as a key to understanding the dynamic going on between Jesus and the people in the Synagogue of Nazareth……
The wonderful second reading can be used as a key to understanding the dynamic going on between Jesus and the people in the Synagogue of Nazareth……
Jesus is the visible expression of God.. who is complete love…. Everything Jesus did and said was out of LOVE, and no other reason… even when he spoke a challenging message … it was lovingly inviting the people to be open to the ways of God… to open their minds and hearts…. Reject any narrow views,,,,, by contrast.. the people become enraged… even when Jesus was only speaking the truth…. They took huge offense and became angry and defensive and wanted to kill him… so, they were not acting out of love… for love takes no offense… rather it Seeks only to build up.,,…
Initially, the crowd is astonished and impressed with Our Lord’s speech, but then when Jesus starts to tell them some home-truths, that challenge or stretch their thinking, and move them out of their comfort zone.....well that is entirely a different matter. Suddenly they do not like what they are hearing. They become murderously angry. Now they reject his message, even though his message is quite evidently true. They say… “Who does he think he is, he is just the carpenter’s son! What would he know?”
Attacking the person (or qualities about the person), rather than dealing with the substantial content of the actual message. In cricketing terms, I think it is called “playing the person, not the ball.” Whenever a person dismisses something a person is saying, based on irrelevant qualities, surely it is because they do not want to hear something that challenges their viewpoint. Attacking the person rather than the issue seems to have become an all-too-common error in this day and age.
Our Lord shows us that it is not sufficient to know the words of Scripture off by heart. The people listening to him knew all-too-well the words of the Sacred Scriptures. These lines were extremely familiar to the people of that time. They knew them by heart. But, people were comfortable with the Scriptures. Over many years, they had found satisfying interpretations of the Bible that did not unsettle or challenge them. Now, suddenly Our Lord is interpreting and teaching the meaning of these old familiar texts in a way that is new and unsettling. The way Our Lord was teaching was making them feel uncomfortable and suddenly he shook their complacency. He particularly pointed out that merely belonging to the “chosen people of Israel” was not all that mattered. God has helped and welcomed people who were not part of the Chosen Ones.
Having said this, Our Lord did not wake up each morning and say: “now what can I do that will get people so riled up that they will want to throw me off a cliff?” Rather, Christ acted and taught with compassion, love, and grace. His honesty and passion opened up issues that sadly some violently reacted to. He wanted people to open up and be transformed by God’s different ways.. but this means being brave enough to be unsettled and uncomfortable and open to the different.
The crowd did not like what they were hearing! So, what do they do? Did they open their hearts and minds to widen their understanding and grow into Christ’s Kingdom? No ! Instead they do what people have done throughout history to challenging and unsettling messages, they try to throw the messenger off the nearest cliff (literally in this present case). But isn’t this what they mean by the saying “don’t shoot the messenger.” This gospel is a powerful lesson. It might be a natural human defense to reject ideas or people that unsettle us in a reflex reaction. When we find ourselves challenged or unsettled by some news, instead of rejecting it out of hand, we can rely on God’s grace and open our hearts to what the Lord might be inviting us to understand. To stay in the discomfort zone and give respect to the messenger. The Gospels give us the values and wisdom to test the fruits according to the ways of Christ, amidst confusion and uneasiness.
The people have become infuriated and violent towards Jesus – so they drag him outside and mean to throw him off a very tall cliff. What happens next, if it wasn’t such a scary and dangerous situation… would almost seem comical - because Jesus is described as simply slipping through the crowd and walking away unnoticed.
You could almost visualize the crowd disappearing up the hill, as Our Lord walks casually away in the opposite direction. What a sight! When they get up to the top of the hill, their anger and denial have become so blinding that they look around and realise that the very object of their anger has vanished. Holding on to our own selfish mindsets can be so powerful that we can even lose sight of the original thing that challenged us.
Was Our Lord so ordinary looking, so average, so unnoticeable in those people’s eyes that they lost sight of him and did not even notice he was no longer amongst them, in the crowd gathered to throw him off the cliff? In so many ways, ‘they just did not “get him” or his message.’ They could not really see him or understand him for who he was.
Let us be vigilant to ensure that we never fall into this same trap as did the unteachable and angry crowd.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
Was Our Lord so ordinary looking, so average, so unnoticeable in those people’s eyes that they lost sight of him and did not even notice he was no longer amongst them, in the crowd gathered to throw him off the cliff? In so many ways, ‘they just did not “get him” or his message.’ They could not really see him or understand him for who he was.
Let us be vigilant to ensure that we never fall into this same trap as did the unteachable and angry crowd.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
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“Faith, Hope and Love, A time of Christian worship and reflection” - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
[{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from “The Psalms: A New Translation” ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]
Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “ Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).
{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011, Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms: http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/ ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/
“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn: Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.
Shutterstock: © Image ID: 1246041673. By Mick Harper. A small rough wooden table with Torah Scroll in the Synagogue in the open air museum of Nazareth Village Israel. This site gives a look at the life and times of Jesus in 1st Century Nazareth. Used under license.
For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources.
May God bless and keep you.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C
(Sunday, 3 February 2019)
(EPISODE: 138 )
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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my brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart. Lord, have mercy.// You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy. //You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us: Lord, have mercy.//
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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Sundays Ordinary IV
Eucharistic Prayer I
Communion side. pwk: RH
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Go in peace. (glorifying the Lord by your life)
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