Lk 4:21 - 30

In this week’s gospel Jesus returns to Nazareth, where he lived as a child. The people in Nazareth knew Jesus as the son of Mary and Joseph, an ordinary carpenter. When Jesus visited the temple and began referring to himself as the ‘one’ that the prophet Isaiah’s foretold would come, the people of Nazareth became angry. Often our ears are closed to things that we are not comfortable hearing - even Jesus was not accepted in his hometown. How do you think Jesus felt knowing that his own community did not accept him as anything other than an ordinary carpenter? He probably felt sad and disappointed that they were not willing to listen and believe his message. Jesus brought the message of God’s love to be shared with everyone, whatever their race or colour might be. Today, some two thousand years later, we share the same message of God’s love with everyone. What can we do in our family, our workplace, our community to be the bearer of this message? How can we brighten someone else's day?