Jer
1:4-5,17-19; I Cor 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30
On a fine morning
with the rising of the sun the streets of Jerusalem were filled
with the echo of a determined footstep. 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.”
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 the 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, Acts 9:15). 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 judgment, 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 lead him 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.
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