Daily Readings - Mon Sep 04 2023

¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Luke

Chapter 4

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.¹⁷And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.²¹And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."²²And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"²³And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well."²⁴And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.²⁵But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,²⁶and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.²⁷And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."²⁸When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.²⁹And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.³⁰But passing through their midst, he went away.

Sermon

In today's readings, we encounter two profound themes: hope in the face of loss and the challenge of rejection in fulfilling our mission. The first reading from 1 Thessalonians offers comfort to those grieving, reminding them of the hope found in the resurrection. Paul assures the Thessalonians that their deceased loved ones will rise again with Jesus, urging them to find solace in this promise. This passage is set against the backdrop of a community coping with loss, seeking reassurance in their faith. The Gospel from Luke presents Jesus in his hometown synagogue, where he proclaims his mission to serve the marginalized. Initially, the crowd is impressed, but when he challenges their parochialism, they turn hostile. This narrative highlights the reality of rejection that can accompany living out one's faith. Jesus's experience teaches us that following God's call may lead to opposition, yet we must remain steadfast. These readings connect by balancing hope with the challenges of discipleship. While we have the assurance of eternal life, we must also embrace the difficulties of standing up for our beliefs. In our daily lives, we may face sorrow or rejection, but the readings encourage us to hold onto hope and trust in God's plan. The moral lesson here is the endurance of faith amidst adversity, trusting that our efforts to live as disciples will ultimately find fulfillment in God's time.