Skip to main content

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Through our Baptism we are called to be Prophets (because just like Jesus, as our baptism consecrates us as priests, prophets, and kings).  Being a prophet means speaking God’s truth, but when it comes to speaking that truth, especially to authority, we can find that our message is not always well received.  As our readings will show this week, being a prophet has its difficulties…


Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Luke 4:21-30

Our first reading comes from the book of the prophet Jeremiah with the passage that describes for us his calling to become a prophet.  Jeremiah began his mission under the much revered King Josiah, but was eventually witness to the fall of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians.  Jeremiah understands the dangers that can befall a prophet, so in his calling the Lord reminds him that his foes will not prevail over him… that he has the protection of the Lord.  Our Psalm reinforces this idea of the Lord as protector as we sing “I will sing of your salvation.”  The Palm reminds us that the Lord is our refuge, our fortress and our strength.

Jeremiah’s story is actually quite typical.  For all the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, we here similar calling stories, and all of them at one point or another find themselves turning to the Lord as they are faced with all forms of disapproval.  Jesus also faced these difficulties throughout his ministry, starting right in his home town of Nazareth.

Our Gospel from Luke picks up where we left off last week… Jesus has just read from the scroll from the Prophet Isaiah, proclaiming that the prophecy has been fulfilled.  The initial reaction from the crowd is amazement, but that is quickly replaced with more questioning… as if to say, “Who does this guy think he is?”  Understand that these are the people he grew up with… they know him and his family very well.  They have also heard of the deeds he performed in Capernaum, but they want their own demonstration.  Jesus feels that they should know him and trust him, but it is precisely because they know him that they have doubts, and in fact become quite angry when he refuses to “show off” to them.  They’re about ready to toss him off a cliff, but in response Jesus just walks away.

Our second reading continues our study of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  Again, picking up from where we left off last week (with his discourse on the Body of Christ and our different spiritual gifts), Paul now explains the best way to seek the best spiritual gifts… by putting on love.  While Paul’s soliloquy on love is a favorite for weddings, our use of this reading this week is meant to bridge the divisions within this young church… by recognizing that everyone has unique gifts, that we are all from the one Spirit, and the best way to treat each other is with love.

Final Thoughts:
It is said that a prophet is never accepted in his own land.  This is proven time and again in our scriptures, and is even true for Jesus in his home town of Nazareth.  These are the people he grew up with… and as is true of all close relationships, it is hard for the people who know us best to accept that we’ve changed and grown in ways that are unfamiliar or uncomfortable.  Familiarity breeds a certain bias that his hard for people to dismiss or overcome.  Our take-away is this:  Exercising our prophetic voice is difficult, even more so when we’re speaking with those who know us best.  But that is no reason to stop, because as the Lord said to Jeremiah, “I am with you to deliver you.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle A

For anyone who is a parent, or anyone who’s had to mediate a dispute among children, you likely have confronted the phrase “But that’s not fair!”  How many times in your life have you uttered that phrase?  Even as adults we have a tendency to equate “justice” with “fairness.”  But here’s the thing – what is “just” may not always be “fair,” and what is “fair” to one person may not always be “fair” to the other.  Our readings this week deal with just that problem, the difference between what we think is fair and what God thinks is both fair and just. The Word for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time Isaiah 55:6-9 Psalm 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a Matthew 20-1-16a We open with a reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, in this case from the closing chapter of Deutero or “second” Isaiah.  This comes from a point in Israelite history where the people have been released from their Exile in Babylon.  The Lord has shown them great mercy and forgiveness by freeing them from th

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

Our readings this week focus on a core theme that runs through Jesus’ ministry – repentance.  There is no sin so grave that cannot be forgiven with true contrition and a return to God.  This was the message that John the Baptist proclaimed, and the message Jesus continued to proclaim as he took up his own ministry.  This theme not only runs through the gospels but is one of the major themes that binds the entire Bible into a cohesive volume.   The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Our first reading comes from the book of Jonah.  The story of Jonah is well known in both Jewish and Christian circles, yet for all its popularity, we only hear it in the Sunday Liturgy this once.  For this reason, many Catholics only have a passing familiarity with Jonah’s story.  They know his name and that he was swallowed by a large fish (or whale), but that’s about it.  In our passage this week, God asks Jonah to go through

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle A

God the Father has endowed us with many gifts.  Not only does scripture recommend that we give thanks for these gifts (as in our readings from Proverbs and Psalms), but it recommends that these gifts must be put to use for the greater good and the love of God. The Word for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 Matthew 25:14-30 or 25:14-15, 19-21 We open with a reading from the book of Proverbs.  This book falls within the category of “wisdom literature” in the Bible.  Like its other wisdom book counterparts, it is a collection of wise sayings used as a type of “catechism” to teach right living in the eyes of God.  Proverbs is thought to originate during the period of the Israelite monarchy but doesn’t reach its final form until the post-exilic period.  Our passage for this coming Sunday gives us the example of the value of a “worthy wife,” and how we should honor that value.  “Wisdom” in this period is considered mo