Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Sunday 31st January 2016)
Seek to be numbered among the elect in Heaven – (Luke 4:21-30)
Our country is gearing up for a general election. The political party election machines are on standby – waiting for the announcement of the Election Day. Then it will be wall to wall coverage of the election in the media until the very last vote is counted. Each party’s PR team will be trying every trick in the book to get their candidates elected.
Today’s Gospel passage would not have endeared Jesus to any PR agency. Jesus in His teaching in His home town of Nazareth had won the approval of all. “They were astonished by the gracious words that cam from His lips”. Then from a human perspective it all seems to go horribly wrong. Just when it seems He had won them over, Jesus’ preaching then seems to undermine all His good work. He castigates His own people, the ‘Chosen People’. He reminds the people of His home town of Nazareth how God chose to help the Gentiles in times of crisis, to the neglect of Chosen people of Israel. If He had been running for election, this would have been ‘political suicide’!
Why did Jesus do this?
Why did He not win their approval and finish on a high note?
Did He not want to attract them to God?
What we come to realise is that Jesus was not a politician. He was not a great political leader that was going to expel the Romans from Israel, as many had hoped that the long-awaited ‘ Messiah’ would be. Jesus did not come to seek people’s approval. Jesus came for people’s salvation! In fact He came not just for the salvation of the People of Israel, but all peoples – Jews as well as Gentiles. Jesus knew He was to be a ‘sign of contradiction’, as was prophesied by the old man, Simeon. This prophecy was made many years previously when He was presented as a baby by His parents in the Temple. Jesus knew ‘He would be for the rise and fall of many in Israel’. Jesus knew many would reject Him. Still He came into this world, not to live, but to die, humiliated on the Cross.
What may this Gospel passage be saying to us? Is God calling us to be humble? Is He reminding us that even though we may be doing good – attending Mass; part of a prayer group; praying daily; trying to live a good life – we always need to be wary of becoming overly proud, like the people of Nazareth. Is God reminding us of the need for ongoing conversion – the need to examine our lives and our hearts regularly – even everyday? Maybe today’s Gospel is a reminder to keep ourselves humble and pleasing before the Lord. How can we achieve this in our life as Christians? Let us seek to incorporate into our lives a daily ‘examination of conscience’. Also, let us become regular attendants at the Sacrament of Confession. Let us ask Our Lady for the grace of humility and authenticity before God. Let us not worry about, or seek human approval. Seek rather to be numbered among the “elect in heaven”.
Fr. Rory Brady