4th Sunday Ordinary Time (C)  Jesus was challenged in his own town
 

Jer. 1:4-19/ Ps 71/ 1 Cor 12:4-13/ Lk 4:21-30

   
  Introduction
        A woman was talking to her preacher and she noticed he had cut himself shaving. She asked him about it. He said he was concentrating on his sermon and nicked his chin. She told him next time to concentrate on his shaving and cut his sermon.  
   
  Background
         This joke might come from a woman who was very familiar with the priest’s style of preaching. She might be confident that nothing good can come out from his mouth anyway. But we know that the Holy Spirit works. We never know from that old poor priest, the profound wisdom of God might be shown. In the same way, from the mouth of a simple carpenter named Jesus, the fullness of God’s truth can also be revealed.  
  1.

Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” His people thought, they knew him so well, and everything about him. They knew his family and educational background, and they were not impressed. An equivalent modern saying would be, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Sometimes we invite other people to intercede for us because it is very hard to stand and correct our own family, for we know that they know our own secrets and weaknesses in life. We become vulnerable, and everything that we might say may boomerang to us. But if we believe that what we are saying is the truth, we should be like Jesus that can not be threatened. “He simply just walked in front of them, and went away”

  
     
  2.

Their hearts were closed and filled with doubts. They wanted to test the power of Jesus by challenging him: “Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.” But Jesus did not fall into their trap but instead quoted two occasions in the OT about Elijah and the widow of Zereptha (1 kings 17-18); and the cleansing of Naaman the Syrian (2 kings 5). Jesus shown them how they were not favored by God because of their lack of faith and neither will he, do any miracle for them. He can not simply give them the graces they asked because their hearts had no capacity to receive them.

  
     
  3.

In the first reading, God gave assurance to Jeremiah that he should not be afraid to prophesy and tell the truth. God had chosen him from the very beginning, even before he was born. Like Jesus in the Gospel, he talked out all the things he need to say and just walked in front of them with full courage and determination. In the second reading St Paul gave the theological virtues, faith hope and love as a rule for a good Christian community. He wrote to the church in Corinth how a Christian community should be. Life in every Christian community must be based on love. This is in contrast to what the community of Jesus in the Gospel this is filled of pride, prejudice and doubt.

  
       
  4. The best wine should be offered at the beginning but it was offered at the end. Wine represent the covenant of God with man. The “wine of New Testament” tastes better that the first one (the wine of  Old Testament covenant), because it is “fermented” by Christ’s blood. Same is true with marriage. You might have the “sweetest wine” during your wedding, but good weddings do not guarantee a perfect married life. The best taste of “wine” in marriage is best tasted towards the end, when you are celebrating your 25th or 50th anniversary of marriage. Let us keep working and be patient with our dreams, remember that the best wine of God’s blessings are well served at the end.  
       
  Reflections  
  1.

Sometimes some people are tempted to “box” other persons. They thought that others can only grow that much.  If the size of the “box” was dependent on the size of their biased hearts and prejudiced minds, then how small that box could be? That tells why their perceptions of other people are too negative. They believed that others cannot be greater than who they think, they are.

 
       
  2.

Sometimes it is not only the “size” of the box that matters. It is also the “shape” of the box that hurts us more. They do not only “press” us down into a small “box” but they also want us to follow the “shape” of the box they are putting us into. They want us to be, what we are not. In the case of Jesus, they thought he was only a son of a carpenter therefore he should only act as such, and should not act as the Son of God.

  
       
  3.

God is very familiar with us. He knows that we are a people with stubborn hearts. We easily fall into sin. But He will never put us in a “box”. He knows there will be something good that can come out from this fallen world. He sent his only begotten Son to die for us, to tell the world that God still see goodness in it. He gives us hope. God believes in our potential to change and to grow. We can still grow from our sinfulness into sainthood. If God believes in us, then we should learn how to believe in ourselves. Sad to say, sometimes we “box” our own selves in. We often say, “hanggang dito na lang ako, mahirap lang kami. Wala na akong pagasang mag-ara,l hindi na ako aasenso.”  If you do not believe in yourself, then do not expect other people to believe in you. If you box yourself in, only you can free yourself out.

  
       
  Conclusion  
 

Every person is a mystery. The future of any person is as limitless as the sky. We can not simply put limits to the potentials of the other. If you love a person, you set him free. Free to go and grow. To grow more than you think he is and can be.