Fourth Sunday of the Ordinary Time (Year C)
Scriptures: Jer. 1: 4-5, 17-19; Ps.71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17; 1 Cor. 12: 31-13: 13; Lk. 4: 21-30
The message of Jesus is really powerful if one puts it into practice. It can stir a revolution in the whole society. It has been witnessed many times in the history of the Catholic church. It happened in the 1970s and 1980s in El Salvador, one of the countries of Central America. The government had neglected the needs of the poor and the oppressed. The government had suppressed all those who protested against it by using notorious death squads. Fr. Grande and like him many other priests were killed because they spoke against the government. Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of them. He also openly criticized the government and its military activities. He refused to attend programs sponsored by the army or government. He became the voice of the oppressed in El Salvador. His voice was noted by the world media. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Archbishop Romero became a threat to the power greed so they killed him while he was celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel on 24 March 1980. His martyrdom paved the way for the consciousness of the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Pope Francis canonized him on 14th October 2018. St. Oscar Romero became the prophet in El Salvador. He faced many difficulties and hardships but his sufferings made Christ’s message authentic.
This Sunday’s liturgy has a beautiful message for us. Every prophet has to face difficulties and hardships while proclaiming the message of God. It is in these difficulties and hardships; the message becomes authentic. We have three persons in today’s liturgy who were entrusted to proclaim God’s word. They were Prophet Jeremiah, St. Paul and Jesus. Each of them had to face difficulties and hardship in their prophetic mission.
The first person is the Prophet Jeremiah. He is considered to be the most persecuted prophet or weeping prophet of the Old Testament. He was born in 650 BCE. He lived during the time of Babylonian deportation. He was abused and despised on many occasions. There are many references in his book to this fact. God had also revealed to him (Jer. 7:27). There are many references in the book of Jeremiah where it is mentioned that people refused to listen to him (Jer. 13:10; 17:23; 18:12; 19:15). He was also ill-treated by the priests and the people. Pashhur, the priest beat him and put him on the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the Temple (Jer. 20:1-2). They also passed a judgment of death when he prophesied against the city of Jerusalem (Jer. 16:11). King Jehoiakim burned the scroll which he had written (Jer. 36:23). He was also put into the cistern of the king’s son to die (Jer. 38:6). He was called a liar for he called himself God’s messenger (Jer. 43:2). He spent forty years proclaiming God’s message but they did not listen to him. However, now his message is read as the Word of God.
The second person is Jesus. Today’s Gospel is a continuation of last Sunday’s Gospel. We had heard last Sunday that Jesus was praised for his preaching. But the very next passage tells that the people became indignant with his preaching. They dragged him out of the synagogue and wanted to throw him down from the clip of the mountain. What transpired between them to take this step is their refusal to accept his message. After listening to him, they looked at his background. He was familiar to them. It is said, familiarity breeds contempt (familiaritas contemptum). They were expecting the messiah to come from nowhere. Jesus corrected them that the prophet is not accepted in his own hometown. He elaborates this by giving two examples from the Old Testament. Prophet Elijah and Elisha were considered the greatest prophets by the Jews. It was the hardness of hearts of the people of Israel that did not allow them to perform miracles among them. The crowd which praised him last Sunday was ready to kill him today. This is the beginning of the difficulties and hardship in the life of Jesus. The people with whom Jesus grew up were the same people who rejected him. We know what persecution and death he had to face in his life. It was in his passion and death that made his message (Gospel) authentic. Is there any god in any culture that has suffered? Our God suffered for us.
The third person is St. Paul. He is writing a letter to the Corinthians. He talks about true love. He describes the characteristics of true love: kind, not envious, not boastful, not arrogant, not rude, not self-centred, not irritable and not resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing. While reading these characteristics, we must remember it is the same man who had to face a number of difficulties and hardships to proclaim Christ’s message. He gives a list of his sufferings in his next letter to the Corinthians. He was flogged, put into prison, faced the death penalty, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, robbed, spent sleepless nights in the journeys, fasted, etc. The list is endless (2 Cor. 11:23-33). He further says that he has been given a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7). In all these hardships, he says his love for Christ is pure and it is the greatest gift among all his gifts.
As we reflect on today’s readings, Jesus, Prophet Jeremiah, St Paul and St. Oscar Romero tell us that their suffering, difficulties and hardship made their message authentic. It is a fact that every authentic message is challenged. It is bound to happen. Sts. Peter and Paul who suffered martyrdom say the same thing. St. Peter says we need to undergo suffering for Christ. Thus, we will become partakers in his suffering. Therefore, we must rejoice. (1 Pet. 4:12-13) St. Paul tells us, we are bound to face persecution. In spite of all persecution, we must not stop preaching the word at all times. He says, every Christian has to suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:11).
Have you suffered difficulties and hardship while holding on to Christ’s teaching?
