The scene takes place in the synagogue of Nazareth on a Sabbath day. It is the time to read a passage of the sacred text. As any adult man can do, Jesus takes the scroll and starts reading a text from the prophet Isaiah (Is.61:1-2). Today’s gospel (Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21) tells us that “All eyes were fixed on him”. Jesus read the first verse, and the second… What followed was … unexpected, unforeseen, in fact, quite shocking!
This young teacher – was he really a credible teacher? – from their town, there he was, claiming, proclaiming, that what Isaiah had said was happening there and then. The people knew the text, they knew the prophet, they thought they knew this young man – but they did not! They could not, they would not believe such a message: it was too much for them to accept, it was plainly and simply unbelievable!
Yes, God’s message to us can be precisely that: unbelievable! “Good news to the poor, comfort to the broken-hearted, freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind, liberation to the oppressed, a year of favour from the Lord…” nothing less! Happening today? Really? Would we believe it, could we believe it, were we in Nazareth today? And what about here and now?…When God comes to me with the unforeseen, the unexpected, the unbelievable, am I so shocked that I fail to recognise him?
Source: Images: Jesus – womeninthebible.net Isaiah – sergioarevalo.net
I can imagine Mary noticing what was happening – a serious shortage of wine for the feast – and making a ‘sign’ to her son, Jesus. Then, THE ‘sign’ followed – that of Jesus, his miracle, changing the water into wine. This part is the one that remains imprinted in our memories, but the previous section is as important: the noticing and the feeling concerned, concerned enough to do something about the situation of need.
Christmas has gone by, the New Year has been with us for 10 days now, and we have celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – so we are back to ‘ordinary time’, or… are we?
I heard a sad but very inspiring story which I will share here with you. A woman pregnant with her first child became very sick during the fourth month of her pregnancy. Her condition was very serious and the doctor soon realised that she did not have a chance of remaining alive herself unless he prescribed some medication that could have negative effects on the child. He made this clear and told the women that she needed to decide very soon as it was a matter or urgency It was also obvious that at this stage the foetus would not live on its own. After much soul searching on the part of the mother-to-be and her husband, it was decided that the treatment should be administered. The woman survived and the pregnancy came to its full nine months when the woman gave birth to a baby boy. She was overjoyed.
You may be surprised to read that this story came back to my mind as I reflected on the readings of this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the gospel (Luke 3:15-16,21-22), the Father used the same language about his Son whom he called « the Beloved ». Of course, Jesus had no blemish or defect of any kind. No, the story made me think of… ourselves and how the Father looked on us at our baptism! We were – we are – truly his beloved ones, we are precious in his sight and he loves us more than any human mother can cherish her new-born. He is not blind to our faults and defects, our sins ans miseries of all kinds. But none of these can prevent him from loving us. At times, we make serious efforts to ‘beautify’ ourselves in his sight, and surely our efforts must be pleasing to him as they express our desire to become more as he wants us to be. But, above all, it is not so much what we do that can make us more pleasing to him but what we allow him to do in us!
