Stations of the Cross (12)
In Your Hearing
Photo by Mark Rasmuson on Unsplash
“Today this Scripture passage
is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)
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These are truly incredible words!
The idea that God’s “hour” had finally come… that He would finally fulfill His promise to free them from all that was oppressing them, was too good to be true. The people of Nazareth simply couldn’t believe that this simple carpenter could actually be the Messiah. Surely the prophecy pointed to something greater, more powerful, more spectacular. How else would God be able to resolve all the problems that were afflicting them?
They failed to realize, as Pope Benedict XVI wrote, that the defining characteristic of the Messiah is “humility, hiddenness – the sign of the mustard seed”… a seemingly small divine initiative that could work great things, but only for those who have faith.
Two thousand years later, we still have difficulty accepting that the promises of Scripture are being fulfilled in our hearing… that the solution for all the problems we have in our lives, in the Church, and the world at large is HERE… NOW!
The problem is that, all too often, we think as the people in the Gospel did:
How can this be?
How can this Jesus undo all the corruption, hatred, and greed we see around us?
How can He expect us to solve these problems with such simple tools as prayer, penance, and sacrifice?
How effective can the Scriptures and the Sacraments be in fighting the great powers of the world?
And the answer for us is the same as it was for them… we need to have FAITH! We need to BELIEVE that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:25).
We have to TRUST that Our Lord is not ignorant of nor indifferent to our problems, and will bring us the peace we seek, but only in His ways and His time.
Jesus was not given the honor properly due a prophet in His home town. May we not make the same mistake.
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