Sometimes, the Truth is Hard to Hear
A Gospel reflection by Fr. James Conlon, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Ann Arbor

I had a classmate in seminary from the state of Texas who spoke with a broad Texan accent that used to remind me of J.R. Ewing. His father was a cattle rancher, so he was big into horses and "ya'll things"! I remember once when we were studying this part of Luke's Gospel in class, he summarized the whole thing by saying, in typical Texan terms: "If your going to tell the truth to folks, you'd better have one foot in the stirrup". In other words, be ready to anticipate their response, even if it means being ready to make your escape!

What is wrong with the people of Nazareth is often our problem today: we think well of those who agree with us or with those whose message is an "ideal" or unthreatening or challenging. It is only when we hear a message that confronts us, that seems to attack our "comfort zone" that we become upset and even belligerent. Jesus starts out well in the beginning. All are praising His lovely words. But it is only when He becomes uncompromising in His message that they begin to change. What is the message that causes this change in them? From the Gospel, it seems that Jesus has spoken to them about God's promise of salvation of God. But instead of the sticking with the traditional understanding that salvation is for the Jews alone, Jesus has strongly hinted at the idea that God might want to extend it to the Gentiles, just as He had offered it through the pagan widow and general in the times of Elijah and Elisha. This is where He should have had one foot in the stirrup. For His uncompromising message of salvation being open to all was difficult for them to imagine or believe. How could God refuse to be bound by the boundaries they had imposed? The idea was intolerable and in traditional human response: let's kill the messenger to kill the message. Someone once said that Jesus came to "comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable". If we are not challenged by the Gospel message of life within God's vision, then we are probably not listening close enough to the message.

Ironically - and this is especially true in matters of faith - the truth that usually sets us free is usually the last truth we want to hear. Its as if we want to censor those things that challenge us, to be only open to those things that fit in with our preconceived ideas and make us comfortable. We can then dismiss everything else as old fashioned, medieval, politically incorrect, out of touch with the modern world but what we are really doing is saying "I want to put limits on the Gospel". In truth we can often be no different from the Nazarenes.

+ Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
"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.