Week of Peace - Tuesday

Luke 4:16-30.

 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it." Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, "This is Joseph's son, isn't it?" Then Jesus said to them, "Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we've heard you did in Capernaum.'" He said, "I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet's hometown. And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah's time, when it didn't rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed." When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. They rose up and ran him out of town. They led him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw him off the cliff. But he passed through the crowd and went on his way.

"We find it difficult to realize and believe that God brings liberation to us on limping, human feet, through the most ordinary and the least expected means.  At times the highest comes to us amid the lowest" (page 42 of Singing Mary's Song). I just finished reading an ebook, "River Rising," that unexpectedly turned spiritual. Its theme was finding God in the humility of walking alongside the "least of these" and of the liberation of the soul that resulted. The author didn't preach, he just told a story of an orphan searching for his roots and of the unexpected ways that he found them and himself.

Reflection Questions for Tuesday, Week Two

• Through what unexpected place, time, or person has God been revealed to you?  What do you recall about that event or person?
• Identify a time when you sustained a loss only to discover that it allowed you to find new life.
• Recall a time when you encountered a saint--a person faithful, compassionate, and true.  How did you feel in his or her presence?  Based on that experience, contemplate what being in Jesus' presence might be like.

Prayer for Tuesday, Week Two
Dear God, help us to remain aware of your presence in all places at all times.  Give us a more sensitive attitude toward others that we might see you in the unexpected.  Help us to meet you there.  Amen.