I love the 1st and 2nd Reading for the 4th Sunday, they are so powerful and pro life! I also included the Responsorial Psalm as it too is pro life! I will post my comments after the readings.
Reading 1JER 1:4-5, 17-19
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Responsorial PsalmPS 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Reading 21 COR 12:31—13:13
Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.
At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
GospelLK 4:21-30
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “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 Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.”
Unfortunately, many people do not have a good understanding of what Love is. It is not a world without rules and guidelines, it is also not a dictatorship. Jesus, the 2nd person of the Blessed Trinity was and is all Love, yet we see in the Gospel that people wanted to throw Him off the hill for His words of love, spoken in truth that they didn’t want to hear! There are other times in the life of Jesus where people wished to kill Him or just left Him, because they didn’t want to hear the truth spoken in love! While presenting to Truth in Love will drive some people away, it also brings people in! If you are wondering what it is He read, prior to our Gospel reading today, this is what Jesus read:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,*
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.m
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (from Lk. 4:18-19)
Saints and or Feast Days for this week:
Presentation of the Lord (also Candle Mass), St. Blaise, St. Ansgar, St. Agatha and St. Paul Mikki and Companions.
Enjoyed the beautiful Right to Life Mass in Lincoln today (Saturday). It was standing room only, and yes we were part of the standing room only group!
Have a Blessed Week!