![\"FAITH\u2014What](\"https:\/\/fountainoflifetm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/faith.jpg\")
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MONDAY, TWENTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n 1 Cor 2: 1-5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ps 119: 97-102\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lk 4: 16-30<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/p>\r\n FAITH BEYOND CERTITUDE <\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Today\u2019s Gospel reading is often called the manifesto of Jesus. The passage ends with the rejection of Jesus by the people of His own hometown, prompting Him to utter the famous words: \u201cA prophet is not welcomed in his own hometown.\u201d Yet, rather than dwelling on the rejection, it is worth reflecting on the message itself \u2014 a message so radical that it evoked such extreme and divided reactions. The book if Isaiah from which the text is taken speaks of the \u201cYear of Jubilee,\u201d in Hebrew Y\u014dv\u0113l or Yovel , a sacred time when debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and ancestral lands were restored to their rightful families, as described in Leviticus 25. Jesus deliberately stops at this passage and boldly declares that it is fulfilled in His very person. Such a statement was daring, for it stood in sharp contrast to the kind of Messiah the Jews had imagined and expected.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/p>\r\n More often than not, this same obstacle hinders our own relationship with God. We tend to believe that everything revolves around our understanding and our expectations. The illusion of \u201call-knowing\u201d becomes our Achilles\u2019 heel and often the cause of our downfall. This is beautifully revealed in the reaction of the people of Nazareth. They believed they already knew who God should be. Their questioning of Jesus\u2019 birthplace and parentage was, in reality, a refusal to accept a God who did not fit into their expectations.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/p>\r\n This reflection takes us back to the very beginning, to the Garden of Eden, where Adam chose the \u201capple of certitude\u201d \u2014 the temptation of self-sufficiency and the desire to know apart from God. That choice became his undoing, causing him to lose his rightful place in God\u2019s paradise. Jesus, the Second Adam, now presents humanity with the same choice once again: to cling to the illusion of certainty or to surrender in trust and choose God above all. The tragedy of Nazareth was not merely that the people rejected Jesus, but that they rejected a God who challenged their certainties. The Gospel invites us to examine whether we too confine God within the limits of our expectations and understanding.<\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n Response: O Lord, how I love your Law!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n Copyright \u00a92013-2026 \u00a9Springs of Living Water\u00a0 https:\/\/springs.carmelmedia.in<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MONDAY, TWENTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME \u00a0 1 Cor 2: 1-5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ps 119: 97-102\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lk 4: 16-30 \u00a0 FAITH BEYOND CERTITUDE \u00a0 Today\u2019s Gospel reading is often called the manifesto of Jesus. The passage ends with the rejection of Jesus by the people of His own hometown, prompting Him to utter the famous words: … <\/p>\n
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