Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
GOSPEL
+ Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.
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.
Word of God.
HOMILY
02-03-2019
DEPRIVED OF PROPHETIC SPIRIT
We know that opposition to Jesus developed little by little: the jealousy of the Scribes, the irritation of the Teachers of the law and the rejection of the leaders of the Temple were growing until they end up in his condemnation and execution on the cross.
The Gospel-writer Luke also knew this. But intentionally, even compelling his own story, he talks about the rejection Jesus faced head-on in his first public action that Luke’s describing. Right from the beginning his readers had to be conscious that rejection is the first reaction that Jesus encounters among his own people when he presents himself as Prophet.
What happened in Nazareth isn’t an isolated fact, something in the past. The rejection of Jesus when he’s presented as Prophet of the poor, liberator of the oppressed and forgiver of sinners, can go on happening among his own people throughout the centuries.
It’s hard for us followers of Jesus to accept his prophetic dimension. We almost completely forget something that’s of such great importance. God wasn’t incarnated in a priest, consecrated to take care of religion in the Temple. Nor was God incarnated in a learned person busy about defending the order established by the Law. God was incarnated and revealed in a Prophet sent by the Spirit to announce Good News to the poor and liberation to the oppressed.
We forget that Christian religion isn’t just one more religion, born to supply Jesus’ followers with beliefs, rites and precepts adequate to live out their relationship with God. It’s a prophetic religion, driven by the Prophet Jesus in order to promote a more human world, oriented toward its definitive salvation in God.
We Christians run the risk of neglecting over and over again the prophetic dimension that must enliven Jesus’ followers. In spite of the great prophetic manifestations that have occurred throughout Christian history, it doesn’t stop being true what the well-known theologian H. von Balthasar affirms: By the end of the second century «there fell over the prophetic spirit of the Church a frost that hasn’t yet been completely melted».
Today, once again worried about restoring «religious things» in the face of modern secularization, we Christians face the danger of walking toward the future deprived of prophetic spirit. If that’s so, it could happen to us what happened to the neighbors of Nazareth: Jesus will pass through our midst and «walk away» to continue his journey. Nothing will keep him from continuing on with his liberating task. Others somewhere else will recognize his prophetic power and welcome his saving action.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
HOMILY
01-31-2016
DON’T WE NEED PROPHETS?
«A great prophet has arisen among us». Thus they shouted in villages of Galilee, surprised by Jesus’ words and actions. However this isn’t what happens in Nazareth when he appears among his neighbors as the one anointed as Prophet of the poor.
Jesus observes first their admiration, and later their rejection. He’s not surprised. He reminds them of a well-known saying: «In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country». Later, when they throw him out of the town and try to do away with him, Jesus abandons them. The narrator says that «he passed straight through the crowd and walked away». Nazareth is left without the Prophet Jesus.
Jesus is and acts like a prophet. He isn’t a temple priest or a teacher of the law. His life is marked by the prophetic tradition of Israel. In contrast to the kings and priests, the prophet isn’t named or anointed by anyone else. His authority comes from God, insisting on encouraging and guiding the beloved people with God’s Spirit, when the political and religious leaders don’t know how to do that. It’s not by accident that Christians confess a God incarnated as a prophet.
The marks of the prophet are unmistakable. In the middle of an unjust society where the powerful seek their welfare, silencing the suffering of those who mourn, the prophet dares to read and to live reality from the perspective of God’s compassion for the least. His whole life becomes an «alternative presence» that criticizes injustice and calls for conversion and change.
On the other hand, when religion itself gets comfortable with an unjust order and its interests no longer respond to God’s interests, the prophet shakes up our indifference and self-deception, criticizes the illusion of eternity and absolutes that threaten every religion, and remembers all those that God alone saves. His presence introduces a new hope since he invites us to think about the future from the perspective of God’s liberty and love.
A Church that ignores the prophetic dimension of Jesus and his followers, runs the risk of being left without prophets.
· We bother ourselves a lot about the lack of priests and we pray for vocations to the priestly ministry. Why don’t we pray that God raise up prophets? Don’t we need them? Don’t we feel the need of raising up the prophetic spirit in our communities?
· A Church without prophets: doesn’t it run the risk of walking deaf to God’s calls to conversion and change?
· A Christianity without prophetic spirit: isn’t it in danger of remaining controlled by order, tradition and the fear of God’s newness?
José Antonio Pagola
Translator Fr. Jay VonHandorf
HOMILY
02-03-2013
DEPRIVED OF A PROPHETIC SPIRIT
We know from history that the opposition to Jesus kept growing gradually: the distrust of the scribes , the exasperation of the teachers of the Law and the rejection by the leaders of the Temple - it all kept growing till it ended with his execution on the cross.
The evangelist, Luke, too knows this. But, deliberately stretching his own story, he speaks of the open rejection of Jesus in the description of the first public act of Jesus. From the beginning he wants his readers to realize that rejection is the first reaction Jesus meets with among his people when he appears as a Prophet.
What happens in Nazareth is not an isolated incident, something that happened in the past. The rejection of Jesus when he presents himself as the Prophet of the poor, the liberator of the oppressed and the one who forgives sinners, can go on happening among his people all through the centuries.
We, followers of Jesus, find it hard to accept the prophetic dimension of his personality. We almost completely forget something which has its own importance. God has not become incarnate in a priest, consecrated to take care of the religion of the Temple. Neither has he become a lawyer to defend the order established by the Law. He has become incarnate and revealed himself in a Prophet sent by the Spirit to announce Good News to the poor and freedom to the oppressed.
Let’s forget that the Christian religion is one more religion that has arisen to provide the followers of Jesus the beliefs, rites, and precepts needed to maintain its relationship with God. It is a prophetic religion, impelled by the Prophet Jesus to promote a more humane world, oriented to its final salvation in God.
We Christians run the risk of neglecting time and again the prophetic dimension that has to animate the followers of Jesus. In spite of the great prophetic manifestations that have occurred in the history of Christianity, what the great theologian H. Von Balthazar said does not stop being true: at the end of the second century “a frost falls on the (prophetic) spirit of the Church that has not been removed altogether.”
Today, again, worried about recovering “the religious spirit” as opposed to modern secularization, we Christians run the risk of journeying into the future deprived of a prophetic spirit. If this is so, what happened to the villagers of Nazareth could happen to us: Jesus will make a way through us and walk off to continue on his course. Nothing will prevent him pursuing his liberating task. Others coming from outside, will recognize his prophetic power and will welcome his saving action.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator Fr. Jay VonHandorf
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