Growing up in the province, I was usually known for how I am related to someone else. I was the son of my father and mother. One could always find how one person is related to another in smaller cities, like my hometown. This was no longer the case when I moved to Metro Manila. The population is so huge that the probability of running into a person who knows your relatives is relatively low. Unless you encounter someone from back home.

In the Gospel, the people in Nazareth were amazed when they heard Jesus speak. They then connected him with his father. Scholars say that there were probably around five hundred people living in Nazareth at that time. It was a small town, and people likely knew each other. They were probably wondering how the son of a carpenter could speak so well. At first, they marveled, but then turned on him when they did not like what they heard.

As Christians, we are all children of God. He has predestined us to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5). We are part of His family. Knowing this, I am eternally grateful for the love He has for me. The challenge of the Gospel is to respond to that love by imitating the love and example that Jesus showed us, by following and being true to the commands he taught us, even when it means others might not like what we say or do.

By: Sem. Richard Anthony Lim

Today’s 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.