3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

In The Beginning…

Synagogue Church, Nazareth

Almost 5 years ago, I was sitting here staring at the computer screen, preparing to compose my first Gospel reflection.  My fingers were poised over the keyboard, ready to start typing away.  And I paused!  Where to begin?  How to begin?  Where do I find the words?  What the heck am I doing? 

I’m sure we have all had that moment of hesitation.  Maybe it was that final term paper in college!  Maybe it was that heartfelt letter of sympathy after a loved one’s passing.  Maybe it was that message of reconciliation after years of silence.  A bit of hesitancy?  A hint of nervousness?  Where do you start?

Luke the Evangelist, in today’s Gospel, doesn’t seem to share that pause of uncertainty.  Unlike the other Synoptic Gospel writers, Luke is a Gentile and a doctor.  He was not one of the 12 Apostles. In fact, he deliberately excludes himself from being an eyewitness to the events he will be describing.  He was an educated man, probably from Antioch, and is considered the author of not only the Gospel but also the Acts of the Apostles.  

All that being said, he jumps right in with purpose and with faith. I have done my homework!  I have researched and read all the other writings! I have investigated everything accurately and now I am going to write the events in Jesus’ life in an orderly fashion! Quite the intro! Quite a scholarly approach!  I’m ready to do this; so let’s go!

And then today’s Gospel jumps a couple of chapters and we hear the story of Jesus’ homecoming, not just to his home district of Galilee, not just to his childhood home town of Nazareth, but to his home synagogue, the place where he heard the stories of the Patriarchs, where he heard the words of the Prophets, where he was taught to be a faithful Jew.  It was in this spiritual home that He is handed the scroll before an audience of his family and neighbors, and He reads the Prophet Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of the Messiah who will “proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”  And then Jesus proclaims in no uncertain terms – this prophecy is fulfilled today in your hearing.  His meaning is clear; the Messiah stands before you!  What a homecoming!  And yet we know how this part of the story ends – the people of Nazareth are enraged, so much so that they drag Jesus out of the synagogue and try to toss Him off a nearby cliff (Mount Precipice).

We have all had our share of homecomings, some pleasant, some not so much!  I remember, just after getting my license, coming home and pulling into the driveway and denting both family cars all at once.  It was not a pleasant homecoming or conversation with my father. But there were also plenty of times when homecoming was one of joy, not fear!  Times when I would come home from a year away at college, or that first visit after Ginger and I married or after Jaime’s birth, times of love and laughter!

For me, those were also opportunities for me to work side by side with my dad in his little country store – ringing up customers, stocking shelves, pumping gas.  And then we’d spend Sundays playing softball or Chinese checkers.  And no matter when we would come home – we would greet each other at the door, sit down for some conversation and then move to the dining room table to share a meal.  That’s what homecoming means to me.

We all have a final homecoming awaiting us in the Kingdom!  Are we ready?  Are we prepared?  How will we be welcomed?  Is there any hesitancy or nervousness?  Will it be a cliffhanger?  Every day of our lives, we write our story! Is it a story of faith, a tale of devotion?  Will the life we live, proclaiming and living out the Gospel message, prepare us for the Master to welcome us with open arms and a loving heart?