Jan. 30th - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Jer 1:4-19; I Cor 12:3l-13:13; Lk 4:21-30)

God promises he will supply strength to Jeremiah to serve his call to ministry. God knew Jeremiah would need every ounce of strength that the Lord would provide to face both the private and official persecution that lay ahead of him. Psalm 71 tells the Lord in God I take refuge, let me never be put to shame. The verses in I Corinthians is a poem-like teaching on what Paul understands to be the greatest of the spiritual gifts and what we know today as one of the cardinal virtues, namely love. The greatest gift isn’t miraculous power or the office of apostle, but love. This love is always about action on behalf of the other. In Luke, Jesus takes this critique of his credibility and turns it upside down by challenging the credibility of his hometown as a witness to a prophet. He demonstrates that it’s not a hometown that judges a prophet but the prophet who judges his hometown. By sharing the stories of Elijah and Elisha, Jesus is pointing to the fact that prophets are usually not accepted by their own people.

• The gentiles were the outsiders for the Jews in Jesus’ day. Who are the outsiders for us? Are there groups our parish hesitates to extend mercy and welcome to?
• Why is it sometimes harder to share our faith with our parents, kids, spouses, siblings, and so forth, than it is to share it with those who are less close to us?
• God knows that our lives may be quite difficult if we’re true to him. What are practical ways that you can love a person you have had struggles with, maybe someone who has hurt or insulted you?