Gospel Reading for March 24, 2025 – Luke 4: 24-30
UNLI PATIENCE
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “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 he passed through the midst of them and went away.
————
How difficult indeed it is when “who you are” matters more than “what you are saying.” He was known in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter, who probably also worked as one before he started his Ministry, and this mattered more to his townspeople.
If we were in Jesus’ shoes, how would we have behaved? Perhaps, we would have said, “Bahala kayo sa buhay nyo! Kung gusto nyo mapunta sa impiyerno, eh di okay!” Or, we wouldn’t even venture to preach to our townspeople, knowing we will not be accepted by them, so why bother at all?
God has UNLI PATIENCE. He never gives up on us. Some of us may even refuse to believe he exists. Yet, his graces abound all around us, for all of us, whether we accept him or refuse him. They are all ours for the taking!
Let us pray . . .
“O Holy Spirit of truth, we beseech thee to enlighten the minds of unbelievers, to incline their hearts to love thy word and to believe the teachings of thy church. Give them courage to accept the faith and openly profess it, that they may come into union with thee and the Father through Christ our Lord.”
