13 March, 2023 | Monday of the Third Week of Lent

 Gospel Lk 4:24-30

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:

“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.

Reflections: 

People of Nazareth heard what Jesus was saying to them as insulting, whereas it was intended to be reassuring. They were angry because the message that he preached challenged their narrow view of God. The Lord can be speaking to us in and through situations that we initially find disturbing. If we take time to listen and reflect we will begin to see what is unfolding. We can begin to see the Lord in places, in situations, where we might never expect to have found him. Our God is always generous, more embracing, more forgiving than we could ever imagine. God’s ways are not ours and God’s thoughts are not ours. 

Activity :

 Ask yourself: Is my vision of God  a narrow one that does not permit me to see the God who is big, with a big heart, a wide horizon, who has a generous purpose in my life?

How much do you know about the Sacraments?