Jer 1:4-5,17-19; ICor 12:31-13:13; Lk 4:21-30
Have courage to change the things that we can and to accept the things we cannot change
On a fine morning with the rising of the sun the streets of Jerusalem were filled with the echo of determined footsteps. They saw a man walk straight
into the presence of the King of Judah. He stopped before the throne and proclaimed boldly, O King of Judah, who sits on the Throne of David, Do justice; Do not do wrong to the alien Do not shed innocent blood."
into the presence of the King of Judah. He stopped before the throne and proclaimed boldly, O King of Judah, who sits on the Throne of David, Do justice; Do not do wrong to the alien Do not shed innocent blood."
The listeners were taken aback by this proclamation. It came from a man whom they knew, the son of Hilkijah; a timid fellow who protested that he was a mere youth. He never dared before, to speak in public. Where did he get this vigour, strength and courage to walk into the palace of the king and warn him? This intruder was Prophet Jeremiah, sent by God to announce his message. He was empowered by God, and God's power worked in him. His divine appointment wiped away his fear and equipped him with strength to carry out his mission.
The Lord told him,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations."
Prophet Jeremiah's divine calling to announce the message of God is the theme of today's first reading. Like Jeremiah, St Paul too was set apart. He wrote to the Galatians: "God chose me from my mother's womb to preach the Good News" (Gal 1:4, Acts9:15). And Jesus mission was revealed at the moment of his baptism.
"This is my beloved son, whom I have chosen." All these passages show that from eternity there has been an election on God's part, and each servant of God receives a definite call.
Prophet Jeremiah preached contrasting message. It was the tragic element of his life to constantly prophesy judgement, destruction and captivity. So he was contradicted by everyone: by his own family, by the religious leaders, by the king and the common people; he was accused of treason and put in jail. Such severe ill treatment forced him to say, I will not speak anymore in His name, but his faithfulness to God made him go ahead with his task.
Today's Gospel presents us with another example of not wanting to hear the truth. We see that Jesus was well received at His inaugural address in His home town Nazareth. They marveled at the words that came from his lips. But when Jesus reminded them of two historical events in Jewish history about Prophet Elijah and Elisha they suddenly changed. During the long years of famine and drought Prophet Elijah was sent to a non Jewish widow, in a Sidonian town. Though there were several lepers in Israel, prophet Elisha cured Naaman, a Syrian.
This was all terribly painful for the Jews of the time of Jesus because they believed that they were God's chosen and that God's love and favour were manifest only in and among Jews. Jesus' words at Nazareth offended the Jews, because he was reminding them that their belief about God's exclusive favour was baseless. They grew furious. They rejected Him violently, they attempted to throw Him over a cliff.
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because He had challenged their belief. History testifies that whoever has questioned what they commonly believed as truth was never accepted. Socrates, the great Greek philosopher tried to teach the people to think independently and find truth for themselves. It was unacceptable to the authorities and he was condemned to death. About 2000 years later Copernicus, a polish astronomer made a great discovery that would challenge the belief of centuries. It was believed that the earth was the centre of the solar system and the sun and the planets revolved around the earth. But when he discovered that the Sun is at the centre and the earth and planets circle around the sun, nobody was ready to accept that. One hundred years after him, Galileo showed this fact to the people with the help of his telescope but he was arrested and silenced, because he upset their way of thinking and belief. They didn't want to accept the truth.
Dear friends, our calling coincides with that of Jeremiah, with that of St Paul and above all with that of Jesus.
Revelation of truth will take place through natural events, through our fellow beings or through personal experiences. But we should have openness to accept them.
Francis Bourgia was a high ranking official at the court of Emperor Charles V. He was very much impressed with the beauty of Empress Isabella of Portugal. At her death he convoyed the corpse to her burial place in Granada. When he saw the effect of death on the beautiful empress he was shocked. He realized the futility of serving mortal masters. This led him to renounce all worldly titles and enter the society of Jesus. St Francis Bourgia spent the rest of his life at the service of the Lord.
When our beliefs are challenged; when we are confronted with truth that requires us to change, to change our attitudes towards people, to change the way we live, to change our approach to people and to change our attitude to work we should have the courage to do so.
Let us pray with Reinhold Niebuhr
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference
Satish