In our Gospel today of Luke 4:16-30, Jesus says, “Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place”. A prophet’s role in history was to comfort the challenged and challenge the comfortable. This was Jesus’ mission on earth, as we clearly see all throughout the Gospels.
When we are baptized, we are made priest, prophet and king, so we are called to be prophets as well. We seldom get resistance when we comfort the challenged, but it is often a very different story when we challenge the comfortable, especially those in our families, and our native places like our workplace and our social circles. These people often knew us before we dedicated our lives to Christ, and can often find it hard to accept the change in us.
If we are truly followers of Christ, we will be prophets. We will not only comfort, but we will also have the courage to challenge, even in our native places, which are often the very hardest. Let us pray for the courage for the mission, and always remember that Jesus warned us it won’t be easy with the ones closest to us. Let us always remember to “Bloom where we are planted”.
De Colores, Deacon Kevin
