Reading
I
Jer 1:4-5,
17-19
The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah's kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 71:1-2, 3-4,
5-6, 15, 17
R. (cf. 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Reading
II
1
Cor 12:31--13:13 or 1
Cor 13:4-13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
or
Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Gospel
Lk4:21-30
Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
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?"
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.'"
And he said, "Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
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.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
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."
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
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.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
False prophets were common among the people of Israel. Knowing this, Jeremiah wants to establish his credentials as a prophet called and commissioned by God to be his messenger. In today’s First Reading, Jeremiah goes even further to establish his credentials by letting us know that God chose him as a prophet to the nations even before he was born. The words I formed you from today’s reading refer mainly to modeling of pottery and where the potter is God. That God knew Jeremiah should not be taken only to mean intellectual knowledge, but his entire person which includes his actions and his will. The phrase I dedicated you can also be written “I have separated” or “I have consecrated” which refers to God having set Jeremiah aside for his prophetic mission.
The girding of the loins points to the promptness with which the prophet was to accomplish God’s order. Jeremiah was to prepare for his mission at once. God reminds him that he is not alone when facing his enemies, and that ultimately he will prevail because God is with him.
To be able to understand the famous passage from the Apostle Paul in today’s Second Reading, it is necessary to understand that he believes charity is a gift of the community. For Paul, charity is the only way for everyone. Any gift, no matter how great, is nothing without love. The characteristics that he gives us of this love are the exact opposite of what was being practiced by the people of Corinth. Only by loving can a Christian truly be authentic in their vocation to follow Christ.
This Sunday’s Gospel begins where last week’s reading ended. After reading the scroll from Isaiah, Jesus says today this Scripture has been fulfilled indicating that the time of fulfillment of God’s promise has arrived. God has remained faithful to Israel despite their infidelity. The gracious words spoken by Jesus should actually be interpreted as words of salvation. The people are amazed that someone they have known all their lives is the messenger of such great news, and this is evident in their question Is this not Joseph’s son? Jesus accuses them of little faith and refuses to perform a great deed for them just to satisfy their curiosity.
At this point in the story, Luke introduces the theme of the rejected prophet, which highlights God’s compassion.
Rejection of the prophet and rebellion
The prophet is killed
Punishment from God
God shows mercy and sends new prophet
The people sin again and reject the prophet
God continues to send prophets to a rebellious people (Neh 9:26-31).
When I was accepted into the formation program for the deaconate, my wife Zeny and I shared this good news with our family and friends as soon as possible. We really believed that everyone would rejoice at this good news but to our surprise the reactions were mixed at best. Some were amazed and happy upon hearing the news but the great majority was amazed and shocked that “someone like me” could become a Deacon. In fact there were even a few people who later told my wife that my becoming a Deacon was a mistake both for our family and the Church. In their minds I just didn’t “fit the bill” – they “knew” me too well and “knew” that I just wouldn’t “cut it”, so to speak. In the end, those who rejected the idea that I would receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders and become a Deacon eventually rejected me as well and to this day ridicule me, my wife and children for supporting me, and don’t want anything to do with me including anything I may have to say regarding God, our Faith, and the Church. Today’s liturgy presents us with similar situations: first in the story of the prophet Jeremiah, and then with Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong; I am trying to compare myself to either one of these figures. The point is that when we are called to serve the Lord in any capacity we will be accepted by some and rejected by many. People live their lives with preconceived ideas of who someone is and they close the door on the possibility of being mistaken. The crowd in the synagogue in Galilee was so sure of who Jesus was that they became blind to reality and rejected him and his message. They closed the door that leads to their heart and “threw away the key” if you will, and refused to let God in. To change their perception of Jesus (or other servant of God) meant that they had to rearrange their lives and the values by which they live. It means they would have to open their heart and thus become vulnerable to others and that’s a very difficult thing for anyone to do because this means we must love everyone. This is why Paul in his letter to the Corinthians goes to such pains to describe love. Without loving, we become just like those who rejected Jesus in the synagogue that day in Galilee.
New American Bible; Brown, R. K., and Comfort, P. W. (trans.) and Douglas, J. D., (ed.) “The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament”; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Holladay, W. L. “Jeremiah 1”; Hyatt, J. P. “The Book of Jeremiah”; McKane, W., “A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah: Jeremiah I-XXV”; Thompson, J. A., “The Book of Jeremiah”; Murphy-O’Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology”; Theissen, G., “The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; Fitzmyer, J. A., “The Gospel According to Luke”; LaVerdiere, E., “Luke”; Maddox, R., The Purpose of Luke-Acts” “The Collegeville Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”.
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa