Year of Mercy Reflection

Friday, Jan. 29, 2016

Editor’s note: During the Year of Mercy, the Intermountain Catholic will publish a short reflection each week written by a variety of Catholics in the Diocese of Salt Lake City: priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, Utah Catholic Schools teachers/principals, lay ecclesial ministers, religious education teachers and others. We hope you enjoy these, and that they give insight into the myriad ways mercy can be incorporated into everyday life.

 

For Jan. 31, the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Gospel reading is Luke 4:21-30, in which Jesus goes to the temple and reads from the prophet Isaiah. Once Jesus proclaims, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” the text, through verse 30, offers challenging paths of exploration and understanding. Even those who heard the words experienced this struggle: We are told that the crowd listening to Jesus went from being amazed to “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” to being filled with fury!

Also intriguing are the stories of Elijah (1Kings 17:7-24) and Elisha (2Kings 5:8-14) that Jesus cites to the crowd (v 24-27) defining “no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Jesus’ ministry of mercy, offered to all, is foreshadowed by both Elisha and Elijah: They transformed the lives of the widow of Zarephath and of Naaman, both of whom were considered foreigners by the Jews.  

The widow and Naaman each struggled and were tested in their conversions.  With only enough flour and oil for one more meal, the widow was tasked to make a cake for Elijah. Naaman, a highly esteemed army commander, had his pride and tactics challenged repeatedly before finally agreeing to plunge seven times into the River Jordan to cure his leprosy (symbolic of baptism).  

Finally, both the widow and Naaman proclaimed their grateful devotion to God; Naaman stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel,” while the widow told Elijah, “The word of the Lord comes truly from your mouth.”

With the world getting smaller every day, could these lessons not be more relevant? Is it not true that mercy, forgiveness and surrender in all forms, given and received, can be mysterious and of unknown consequences – in our native places? 

What is ordinary about these opportunities?

Denise Richards

Lay Ecclesial Minister

Christ the King Parish, Cedar City