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January 31, 2010 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
A Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah
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.
The Word of the Lord.
Reading II 1 Cor 12:31—13:13 or 13:4-13
A Reading from the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians
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.
The Word of the Lord
Gospel Lk 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.
………….
Our readings today begin:
“The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”
Although this was spoken by Jeremiah and referred to Jeremiah himself,
It applies equally to us, to each one of us.
God knows us each intimately and completely. He knows our gifts and our faults/challenges…because he gave them to us. He knows our motivations, our weaknesses, our secret sins and our good deeds done in secret. He listens to each one of us and cares for each one of us. Jesus Christ came to this world, died and rose for you…each of you individually And for me.
St. Paul tells us then….Seek spiritual gifts, but love above all. Love never fails. Without love, I gain nothing and am worth nothing in this world or the next. Love is all these wonderful things but above all…love is God & we are God-like when we love.
The people of Nazareth spoke highly of Jesus, were amazed. An ignorant local boy makes good, and has come home to worship in his home synagogue with all the little people, as they say on Oscar night, who helped him get where was.
He read: From the prophet Isaiah, as we heard last week…
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
He told them…. Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.
One word of truth turned them against him, and they tried to kill him.
Such is the Christian in today’s world.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because He has chosen us to bring good news to the poor too.
He has sent us to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to make our time acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.
We are all poor, captive and blind and oppressed. But Isaiah really did mean those without money, those shut out of the political and economic system,
Those everybody else disliked, immigrants. And those were the kind of people Jesus preached to and ministered to. They were the people who came out to hear him because they knew for sure they needed a savior.
We have a harder time appreciating a savior.
We feel saved already.
We have some money and our votes count in the system.
We have medical insurance to help us if our sight fails and we go lame.
We often don’t see what is wrong with us and what we need. But our neighbors and brothers and sisters can.
We are here today because we are trying to love, practicing love among two different peoples and cultures, among people of Taiwan and America, opening our hearts, heads, lives and homes to each other.
Today we fufill this scripture passage, if we love truly.
Love sees all things, heals all things.
Let us put aside childishness and begin to love fully our neighbors, our world as fully as we are loved by God.
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