Love Is The Greatest!
1. Jesus Asks for Prophets Like Himself
2. The Greatest of All Is Love
Introduction
1. Jesus Asks for Prophets Like Himself
We know we are willing to listen to people as long as they tell us what pleases us, what conforms to our own ways of thinking. But when they remind us of things, even good things, that make demands on us or upset our patterns of thinking and doing things, we close our ears and hearts. Yet it is good that Jesus reminds us of things that shake up our conscience when we neglect to do them: like forgiving, caring for the poor, standing up for what is right and just. Let us listen today to the Lord and to all that speak in his name.
2. The Greatest of All Is Love
Sometimes we hear people voice their disappointment, as “I have given so much time and effort to the parish community and now I am not even elected to the parish council,” or “Look at all I have done for my family and see how my children disappoint me!” Is the undertone frustrated self-love or a real spirit of love and service of others? We are told today in strong words that love does not take offense and is not resentful. It is trusting and endures everything. Let us ask the Lord here with us to make our love genuine and deep.
First Reading: Stand Up and Tell Them!
God chooses Jeremiah for the ungrateful, disturbing mission of being a prophet. He has to be the mouthpiece of God. God will give him strength and protection.
1 Reading: Jeremiah 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.
Second Reading: The Greatest of All Is Love
All the gifts of grace serve no purpose unless they are inspired by self-giving love, the heart of all Christian living. God will complete this love and make it perfect in the glory of heaven.
2 Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13
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.
Alleluia Luke 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Who Does He Think He Is?
Jesus explains to the people of his hometown Nazareth that he has a prophetic mission and that it is destined not merely for his privileged compatriots but for all. The opposition of the people cannot stop Jesus.
Note. Today’s reading becomes much clearer if we add verses 17b-19 from last Sunday, for it is partly against this statement that the people react.
Gospel: Luke 4:21-30
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.
Commentary
St. Augustine lived more than fifteen centuries ago, but he was not the first to use the expression “familiarity breeds contempt;” he quoted it as “a common saying,” vulgare proverbium. It is even a more common experience. Jesus experienced it, and what he said on that occasion has itself become a proverb (unless perhaps it was one already), “Prophets are not honoured in their own country.”
The rejection of Jesus in his hometown was therefore no surprise. The whole world knows that familiarity breeds contempt! It’s a bitter truth that the people closest to you are sometimes the least likely to support you. Is it true in your own experience? You may say, “No, my family is supportive.” You are blessed. But look carefully and see if they support you only so long as you support their image of themselves. The people of Nazareth agreed with Jesus only just so long as he agreed with them! As soon as he began to say things they didn’t like—in particular when he began to praise foreigners—they tried to throw him over a cliff. They knew so many superficial things about him that they couldn’t see anything new in him. Is there anything in you or me that makes our familiars want to throw us over a cliff?—or are we perfect villagers?
Blessing
The word of God has been addressed to us
as good news for today.
It is a message of hope and love
that is mightier than all evil
and than all contradiction.
May God’s word keep us sensitive
to the needs of our time,
to the values we tend to forget
and to the rights that are trampled upon.
May God bless you all and give you his courage:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go and speak with our lives
the Good News of our Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.