“No prophet is honored in his own country” - Monday 3rd of Lent
Liturgic day: Monday 3rd of Lent
Gospel text (Lc 4,24-30): Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian”.
On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.
Comment: Fr. Santi COLLELL i Aguirre (La Garriga, Barcelona, Spain)
“No prophet is honored in his own country”
Today, we hear Our Lord saying that “No prophet is honored in his own country” (Lk 4:24). These words - uttered by Jesus - have been for many of us - more than once - justification and excuse not to complicate our lives. But, in fact, Jesus Christ, only wants to warn us, his disciples, that things are not as easy as they may look and, more often than not, amongst those supposedly knowing us best, things may still become more difficult.
Jesus' assertion is the preamble of the lesson He intends to give to the people gathered in the synagogue and thus, open their eyes to the evidence that, just because they are members of the “chosen People” they have no guarantee of salvation, cure or purification (which will later be confirmed through the data of the history of salvation).
I said, however, that Jesus' assertion, for most of us, is too often, but an excuse not to “commit ourselves evangelically” in our daily chores. Yes, it belongs to those phrases we have all learned by heart and, gosh!, are they effective...!
It seems those words are recorded in our particular conscience in such a way that, when we should, in the office, at work, with our family or with our friends, within our closer social “milieu”, be making decisions understandable only to the light of the Gospel, such “magic phrase” push us backwards as if advising us: - It is not worth your while to worry, no prophet is being honored in his own country! We have the perfect excuse, the very best of justifications, for not having to give testimony, nor having to stand by that colleague whom the company is playing a dirty trick on, nor having somehow to help reconciling that married couple, who are also friends of ours.
Saint Paul addressed, instead, in the first place, his own: “And going into the synagogue, he spoke freely about three months, disputing and persuading concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). Are you sure, it is not actually this what Jesus meant to say to us?
Source: www.evangeli.net