By Philip Raj csc –
Readings: 2 Kgs 1-15; Lk 4: 24-30
Both the readings speak about rejection. In the first reading, we see how people of Israel were dismissive towards God’s messenger, which is why God chose an outsider to heal. Naaman obeyed the words of Prophet Elijah and so he was made well. In the gospel reading, we clearly see the way Jesus was treated in the temple. He was humiliated and nobody was ready to listen to his voice.
At times, we may have misjudged our friends, classmates, teachers, formators, or our family members. We may have pre-conceived ideas about individuals and sometimes, we try to generalize things without understanding the person deeply. We tend to draw wrong conclusions based on experience of one or two incidents. Today’s readings invite us to re-program our thinking pattern about others and to encourage positive thoughts.
Though Prophet Elijah was rejected and ignored by the people, he never stopped his God-given mission. When the time came to make God’s glory known, he went to the king and showed him
the power of God by curing Naaman. Jesus also did not end his mission, rather he continued God’s work with much more zeal and passion. When we feel disrespected or dejected in our lives, let us recall to our mind that the same thing had happened to our master too. With the same spirit of Jesus, let us focus and strive in our mission by being faithful to every activity we do for the good of others and our own.