Reading 1
1 Cor 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers and sisters,
proclaiming the mystery of God,
I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,
and my message and my proclamation
were not with persuasive words of wisdom,
but with a demonstration of spirit and power,
so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom
but on the power of God.
Gospel
Lk 4:16-30
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Meditation: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
“… so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:5)
The apostle Paul was a bright, persuasive, well-read expert in Jewish theology. He may have had his flaws, but he was still one of the most influential men in the early church. The Corinthian church, a growing and thriving community, testified to the work of this great “Apostle to the Gentiles.” Yet Paul was always careful to emphasize that the church was built “on the power of God,” not on his wisdom or the wisdom of any other apostle.
Like St. Paul, we too are called to build the church. And, again like St. Paul, we are called to build on the foundation of God’s wisdom and power, not human wisdom. Does that mean that we shouldn’t try to be dynamic and engaging as we spread the good news? Of course not! We should do whatever it takes and use whatever tools we have available to us to present the gospel so that people will be moved to open their hearts to the Lord. That’s what it means to become “all things to all, to save at least some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
The point isn’t what you can or cannot do. You don’t need a particular skill set to succeed as a witness to the Lord. You don’t have to look impressive or feel strong and energetic to do God’s will. All you have to do is listen to the Holy Spirit and try your best to follow his guidance.
The best way to become an effective sharer of the gospel is to sit quietly with the Lord in prayer every day. Set aside all your concerns and focus on Jesus, his kingdom, and his goal of bringing people to heaven. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you the best ways to witness and share your faith. Then, take some steps during the day to act on what you think God has said. Remember: The most important thing is not what we do but how we put our hope in the power of God to work in our day and in our circumstances.
“Holy Spirit, I want to follow your lead. Show me what you want me to do today, so that I might make way for your power to be seen in this world.”
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