Reflection:
Picture yourself sitting in the synagogue with people from Jesus’ own hometown.  And rather than uplift them, He singles out strangers from other towns – the widow Zarephath in Sidon during Elijah’s time, and the Syrian leper Naaman in Israel – as worthy recipients of God’s grace because of their faith, while virtually accusing His own people of lack of faith in God.

On hearing His words, everyone in the synagogue wanted to hurl Him off the cliff.  How about you? How would you feel, or react in the same situation.  Would you feel chagrined, aggrieved and/or insulted?

But before we take offence, let us examine ourselves and our community, because we may well be guilty of the same indifference as the people of Nazareth who knew Jesus quite well, but could not accept Him as a prophet.

Take Jeremiah as an example.  In his youth, he was no different from any ordinary youth who dreamed of marrying, raising children and leading a peaceful life in his hometown.  But God had other plans for him.  God had chosen him to be a prophet.  And like Jeremiah, God calls all of us to be prophets too, not just “hearers of His word, but bearers of His word as well.”  In other words, we are to exercise our gift of prophesy without fear or letup.  We are to see the world with the eyes of God.  We cannot just keep quiet at the sight of injustice and abuse of power.  As prophets we are called to denounce oppressions, unmask corruption, and censure those who perpetrate violence and lead people astray.  Easier said than done, you might think, and with good reason.  But that is our calling and we should not fear because the Lord has promised in Jeremiah 1:19… “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you.”

We find the Corinthian community split by dissension and jealousies over their gifts and charisms.  Paul reminds them that all charisms are gifts from the Spirit, and are given for the purpose of forming and uplifting the community.  How are we using our own gifts and the fruit bestowed upon us through the Holy Spirit? Do we use our charisms to build up community so that the larger church benefits from it, or are we like the Corinthians eaten up by jealousy and competition over one another’s spiritual gifts?

In the 2nd reading, St. Paul names love of God and neighbor as the underlying foundation and motivation behind the use of our spiritual gifts.  Only through love are our charisms made more effective as we set out on mission.  We are reminded too that love is not to be confused with selfish passion that seeks to serve one’s own interest and pleasure.  Jesus did not love mankind because man is good (on the contrary, many men are in fact thieves, murderers, adulterers); He made them good by loving them unconditionally.  One can have many virtues or good qualities, and even accomplish many wonderful things, without possessing the kind of love Jesus has.  St. Paul reminds us, in the end three gifts are left… “faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.”  

The gospel is rather difficult to understand.  How could the admiration of the people of Nazareth turn into sudden fury and hostility against Jesus, to the point they wanted to kill Him? Simple answer… their expectations and worldly mindset had betrayed them.  First, they did not expect the Son of God to be amongst them.  And, if they had known, they expected Jesus to perform the same wonders and miracles in their hometown.  But Jesus did not; Jesus wanted them to understand that He did not come to solve all their problems at the flick of His finger.  He wanted His town mates to believe and proclaim His gospel, exercise their prophetic gifts, and give their lives over to spreading of the gospel.  Similarly, Jesus wants us to realize that the salvation of God is not a privilege reserved exclusively for members and disciples of Bukas Loob Sa Diyos (Open in Spirit to God) but for all peoples.

Isaiah 61:2 says – “The Lord has anointed me to bring the good news… and to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord…”   Today, Jesus is asking for the kind of open-hearted love from us that He had hoped to find among the people of His time and place.  We cannot love Jesus in an intellectual vacuum, or simply by repeating, “Lord, Lord” without internalizing and living out our faith.  Our Catechism reminds us that we can even sin by being ungrateful, indifferent, or lukewarm toward God’s love.

Prayer:
Lord, Jesus Christ, cause me to accomplish the mission you have called me to do and to exercise the spiritual gifts you have graciously given me in Your love. Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1. Do we practice our charisms despite the opposition we may sometimes encounter?

2. Do we get agitated or insulted when a brother’s prophesy seeks to correct us or our community?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
February 3, 2013 (Sun)    Jer 1:4,5,17-19/ Ps 71:1-6,15-17/
1Cor 12:31-13:13 or 13:4-13/ Lk 4:21-30
February 4, 2013 (Mon)    Heb 11:32-40/ Ps 31:20-24/ Mk 5:1-20
February 5, 2013 (Tues)   Heb 12:1-4/ Ps 22:26-28, 30-32/ Mk 5:21-43
February 6, 2013 (Wed)   Heb 12:4-7, 11-15? Ps 103:1,2,13,14,17,18/ Mk 6:1-6
February 7, 2013 (Thur)   Heb 12:18,19,21-24/ Ps 48:2-4,9-11/ Mk 6:7-13
February 8, 2013 (Fri)       Heb 13:1-8/ Ps 27:1,3,5,8,9/ Mk 6:14-29
February 9, 2013 (Sat)     Heb 13:15-17,20,21/ Ps 23:1-6/ Mk 6:30-34

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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