Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.”

Gospel Reading: Luke 4:16-30

16 Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." 20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." 22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" 23 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.'" 24 And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 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. 26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 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." 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29 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. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that he is the Lord promised to us in the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah tells us that the Messiah would come to, “proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” The Messiah was to free them from the burdens of life which held them back and to give them sight so they might see the Lord. Jesus proclaims that, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The people of Nazareth were expecting great things and the Gospel says that they “all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” But they expected more, they expected him to perform miracles to prove he was the Messiah. Jesus is preaching to his own home town. As the hometown boy, they expected a lot from him. They expected that he would heal all them and perform miracles just because he grew up in Nazareth. But Jesus tells them that there are many people who need to be healed, but only those with faith are healed. He tells them, “There were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and none of them were cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” Naaman was healed not because he did what God told him, but because he had faith that if he did what God told him he would be cured. The people of Nazareth felt that they were entitled to Christ’s miracles and demanded that they be healed. However, this would not change the hardness in their hearts.

Jesus knew that they lacked the faith that would make the healing possible. Healing comes through conversion. One must truly submit to God to open ones heart to the power of faith. Jesus performed no miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith. His attitude towards their selfishness pride upsets them so much that they want to kill him. Instead of falling on their knees and asking for his love, their true feeling of hatred and resentment come forth. But Jesus demonstrates his power over them by paralyzing the crowd so that the crowd cannot harm him. Do you approach Jesus with expectations. When you pray to God, do you get upset when does not answer your prayers the way you want him to answer them. So often we have expectations that are not founded in the true love and faith which God demands of us. We must be willing to fully commit ourselves with no expectation in return. We must be willing to turn our lives over to Christ.

A Simple Prayer

Christ Jesus, give me the power to open my heart and my soul.

My I be an example of your love and compassion to my family and friends.

May I lead them to your table to take part in the bounty of your salvation.

Yours in Christ

Michael F. Marcon