THE WORD
FIRST READING 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.
SECOND READING 1 COR 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.
GOSPEL READING Lk 4,21-30
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 he passed through the midst of them and went away.
IN OTHER WORDS
I remember the time when I came home from my mission exposure in Papua New Guinea almost 30 years ago. I was very excited to share my experiences, especially those “negative” ones, in our place in Quezon City. The first was when I got held up in the orientation seminar I was attending.
The second was when I fell down from a motorcycle coming from a pastoral visit and brought to a hospital. And the third was when I was stopped by a group of young rascals on my way to our mission station. They believed me, of course, but since they knew me to be “always smiling”, they could not imagine that these experiences were painful moments for me. It took some time before I could convince them that sadly, I almost went home on my rst setback. “Familiarity breeds contempt!”
The beginning of this Lucan episode showed Jesus who had triumphed over the devil in the wilderness and had “returned in the power of the Spirit” to give his inaugural address in Nazareth.
He began by invoking the prophet Isaiah and a passage about true reversal of fortune and hopeful change. However, the next thing was a series of questions about where he got his wisdom. Again,
“familiarity breeds contempt!”
Jesus’ tough reaction to their doubts about his identity was revealed in his recounting two stories in 1 Kings 17 and 2 Kings 5 in which Elijah and Elisha were instrumental in bringing God’s deliverance of the Gentiles from death and sickness. A rejected prophet, Jesus had already anticipated the reaction he would receive. His two examples of God’s mercy were not designed to soothe, but to indict. He spoke the “truth” from the pages of the Old Testament. He used God’s word to point out the Gentile mission that God Himself had begun so long ago, not once but many times.
Now, it is the mission the church would continue to fulfill after Jesus. In many areas where a missionary will preach – especially in his hometown, the same feeling will occur. Familiarity can
breed contempt! This, however, should not stop the ministers from preaching the full and complete word, the hard word, yes, the saving word. Because, in any case, the Word will prevail!
- Fr. Lex Ferrer, SVD | DWST, Tagaytay City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
