Ord. Wk 4th February 3, 2019
Reflection on the WORD
Spiritual Blindness: In today’s Gospel, when Jesus exclaimed, “No prophet is ever accepted in his own country, His townsfolks at Nazareth were enraged by the truth. Reflect on our lives, “Are we spiritually blind to God in the living of our faith and morals because of our emotional baggage?
Lk 4:1,23b-28
The people of Nazara said to Jesus, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own country.” ’ And Jesus went on, ‘In truth I tell you, 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 town in Sidonia. And in the prophet Elisha's time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured -- only Naaman the Syrian.’
When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged.
Today's Pointers on God's Word
As you read the passage what words, phases or meanings caught your attention?
- •The townspeople of Nazareth could not see beyond that Jesus is a carpenter’s son. Familiarity breeds a contempt which blinded them with prejudice and envy.
- •How often are we too, are guilty of such prejudices and blindness? Do we not look down on the poor and needy who are oppressed and marginalized by the rich and powerful of secular society?
- •Whom do we “praise, serve and show great respect” in our lives? Do our spouse, parents, children, siblings, maid, gardener, colleagues, janitor, rubbish collector, meat seller, alcoholic, drug addict, enemy receive a Christ-like reception from us? If not, why?