A Prophet at Home

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,                            
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

It is always nice to come home after a long absence. You arrive and you are among friends and neighbors that you have known your whole life. There is a comfort in that. Today's reading tells about the time when Jesus went home. He must have looked around at the streets where he had played as a child.  He probably saw some of the carpentry that he and his father had worked on together.  He felt very comfortable and at ease in this place.  On the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll.  They complimented him on the wisdom he displayed. But then they remembered that he was one of them, he had played in these streets and had worked as a carpenter.  Still, he was said to have performed signs and wonders elsewhere, maybe he will do so here, but he did not.  When he was called on it, his neighbors got angry at his response.  They drove him out of the town to the brow of the hill that the town was built on but he walked through their midst and got away.  A prophet is never recognized in his home town. 

So it is with us.  We are called to proclaim the good news to family and friends and strangers.  It is easier to proclaim to a stranger, they don't know you.  When you speak to family or friends, well they remember that you stole from the cookie jar when you were young.  And, wasn't that you that came out of that tavern walking a crooked path? In short, they know you and all of your faults.  They know the good things about you too but it is human nature when confronted with a Gospel that would change their lives and take them from their comfort zone, that they look at who is proclaiming it and and remember that person and his or her sins which makes it more comfortable for them to ignore calls to change their ways. 

Be that as it may, we are still called to proclaim the Gospel to one and all.  We reinforce the Gospel by showing them that we have changed our life, that we have heard, we have listened, and we believe.  Our exterior self should be a reflection of our interior. We should reflect many different aspects of the Gospel, it should shine through and illuminate every aspect of our life.  We should be persons of love, care, kindness, and service.  There should be no person we look down upon and we should treat them all as if they are our sisters and brothers.  This includes our enemies as well.  Using force against force will bring destruction to both the the antagonists.  But wear away the force with love and a little bit at a time a boulder of hate will be worn down to the size of a grain of sand. 

Jesus has anointed us to be His messenger.  Take on this task and your soul will dance with joy.  

The poor souls in purgatory need your help.  Please, pray for them.  An Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be takes but a moment but it means so much for them.