In today’s gospel, we hear the aftermath of what happened when Jesus revealed that the words of the prophet Isaiah (the mission we heard him reveal in last Sunday’s gospel) would be fulfilled in him.
The people in his own home town became skeptical (“Physician, cure yourself!”) and began to put the labels on him (“Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” i.e., the carpenter’s son?). We also hear that he angered the people so much that they drove him out of town to the cliff, ready to hurl him off the hill! (See Luke 4:21-30).
Odds & Ends
Seminarian Ryan Brady has moved into the rectory and will be with us full-time for the next three months. He is here for his pastoral internship. Learn more about Ryan by clicking here.
The extreme weather may have interrupted some of the activities of our Catholic Schools Week, but it didn’t dampen the spirit. Last Tuesday, after an all-school Mass our principal, Kelly Bourrell, revealed the school’s new mantra: “Impact the world through Christ”. She also introduced the three Christian virtues that define our St. Hubert Knights: Service, Persistence and Compassion. The students wore their 2020 Vision t-shirts as we remembered everyone, with gratitude, who is helping us prepare for the 2020s. Click here for more of the story.
Sometimes the people who know us the best don’t always see who we truly are. It’s often a frustration teens and young adults talk about as they transition into adulthood and begin to find their place. But it’s not unique to them, we can all struggle with this. Being accepted can be a long journey. Labels, prejudices, misunderstandings, and closed minds can often be road blocks to understanding.
The Christian mind and heart looks deeper. There is often more to people than we think. The only way to know for sure is to talk it out; to listen and try to really hear. Talking, listening, thinking and hearing can open doors to understanding.
My dad was an architect and lived in the world of creative ideas. He once told me he would get frustrated with some of the colleagues in his office when they would resist making a change the client wanted, based on creative differences. He told me, that to be creative is to realize there’s more than one way to do something, and that his own way, or his colleague’s own way, may not always be the best. And maybe, just maybe, the client had it right.
My dad taught me to look at different perspectives—and not just to apply this to creative ideas, but more importantly when it came to working with people, which is one of God’s greatest creative expressions there ever was. Different perspectives can lead to greater understanding, which comes from a desire to learn more and know more, all in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
It’s interesting. At the end of the passage today, Luke tells us Jesus passed through the angry crowd and walked away. We don’t know what allowed this to happen. But maybe he was able to convey to the crowd he wasn’t the person they thought he was. There was an opening, a moment of grace, that didn’t lead to violence, but led to peace.
We survived the bitter cold, now as we head into hopefully warmer days, let’s pray for one another. It has the power to give us strength.