Sunday 3
February 2013
4th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19. Ps 70:1-6, 15, 17. Rv. 15 1Cor 12:31-13:13.
Luke 4:21-30
I have
appointed you as a prophet.
My lips will
speak of your help
There are
three things that will last and the greatest is love.
They took
him to the brow of the hill, but he walked away.
First reading
Jeremiah
1:4-5,17-19
In the days of Josiah, the word of the
Lord was addressed to me, saying:
‘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.
‘So now brace yourself for action.
Stand up and tell them
all I command you.
Do not be dismayed at their presence,
or in their presence I will make you
dismayed.
‘I, for my part, today will make you
into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron,
and a wall of bronze
to confront all this land:
the kings of Judah, its princes,
its priests and the country people.
They will fight against you
but shall not overcome you,
for I am with you to deliver you –
it is the Lord who speaks.’
God knew each of us before ever
we were formed in the womb. Not only did he know us, but he also chose us to be
his in Christ Jesus, his only begotten Son. The fact that God out of love for
us conceived us in his heart before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) is
the source of our dignity as human beings. We are precious in the eyes of God
(Isaiah 43:5) and so we are precious in our selves. God is Truth. We too are
consecrated to God. That means we belong to him. He looks on us as his own,
which we are. We must live according to this great dignity. We are to live a
life of honesty, sincerity and love in a world which often violates these
virtues and demands the same of us. However if through prayer we rely on the
strength of God, we will be able to be his witness.
Psalm
Psalm
70:1-6,15,17
My lips will tell of your help.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
My lips will tell of your help.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
My lips will tell of your help.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my
help.
My lips will tell of your help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
My lips will tell of your help.
EITHER: --------------------
Second reading
1
Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I
am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.
If
I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am
simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy,
understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I
have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am
nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I
even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no
good whatever.
Love
is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or
conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not
resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the
truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever
comes.
Love
does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come
when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever;
and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For
our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection
comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk
like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a
man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in
a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have
now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In
short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest
of these is love.
To be able to love others is a
gift from God. We do not do it of ourselves. God will always give this gift to those
who desire it. We can examine ourselves as regards this, the greatest of gifts.
Am I patient and kind? Am I proud and boastful? Am I rude or selfish? Do I take
offence? Do I seek only the truth? Do I excuse others? Do I trust, hope and
persevere to the end? It is consoling to realise that God who demands these
qualities of us has them all to an infinite degree.
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn14:6
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
Or
Lk4:18
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good
news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke
4:21-30
Jesus began to speak in the synagogue:
‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the
approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from
his lips They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’
But
he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself”
and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in
your own countryside.”’ And he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is
ever accepted in his own country.
‘There
were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven
remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged
throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent
to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time
there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the
Syrian, Naaman.’
When
they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their
feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the
hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he
slipped through the crowd and walked away.
A lamb among wolves
Prophets are those who
proclaim God’s message to particular groups. They have a hard time because
people do not want to hear God’s message. They prefer to live in their old
comfort zone. They dislike being disturbed and God’s message normally upsets
people’s lives.
The people of Nazareth knew Jesus as
their carpenter and one of the community. He was one of them. Now he was
different; he was a preacher attracting thousands, working miracles of healing,
forgiving people’s sins and telling them plain truths from God. It was too
much. Who did he think he was? They wanted the old Jesus whom they knew – not
this prophet who proclaimed that he fulfilled the Scriptures. They took him to
the brow of the hill, to throw him over it. However, Jesus left, never to
return.
And
you? God calls you to be his prophet today in a hostile world. Did Jesus not
say: I send you out as lambs among wolves? There is not much hope for physical
survival then! You may well quake. It is a daunting prospect. However, the Lord
says to you, do not be dismayed for I am with you to deliver you. When you step
out in faith to be a prophet and experience His presence you will sing: My lips
will tell of your help.
However, I cannot speak, you will say. That may
well be true. However, more powerful than any word is your life! Your life,
whether you like it or not, is your proclamation. St. Paul tells us that in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation we should shine like lights in the world. To
live a life of honesty and integrity, of always doing what you consider right,
fulfilling your responsibilities even when others mock – this is to live a
prophetic life. It is also a hard life and open to persecution by those your
life condemns. It is so easy to become like the others, corrupt and deceptive.
The prophet listens to God’s Word and says ‘No, I will not be like that. I am a
disciple of the Lord Jesus. I will act with honesty and love’.
To live in love for
everyone, friend and foe alike and to live a life of justice and uprightness is
the witness that the world needs. Today’s prophet is called to stand up and
live a life beyond reproach – a life that condemns the sin of the world by
courageously walking in the opposite direction.
Are we capable? Yes we are but by grace given as a
result of constant prayer and listening to the Word of God and the support of
other believers. Are you zealous to be the apostle of truth and justice with
love?
Father, give me the Holy Spirit
so that I may be a true witness of Jesus.
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