Gospel – Luke 4:21-30
Of all the books in the Bible, 73 in all, only 2 were not written by Jews: Luke and Acts. Both of these were written by Luke, a Syrian convert and disciple of Paul.
Last week’s Gospel reading was from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry when He went to His home town, Nazareth, and in the synagogue read from the scroll of Isaiah. Today’s reading continues this event in His life.
1st Reading – Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
Jeremiah is the second of the four great prophets of Israel; a contemporary of Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. He was born in the last part of the reign of Manasseh, about 645 years before the birth of Jesus and almost a century after Isaiah.
Called by God to be a prophet at the age of 19, he remained unmarried and celibate by order of Yahweh (Jeremiah 16:2). For more than 40 years, up to his death, he remained faithful to his vocation and prophesied until after the fall of Jerusalem in 587/586 B.C.
In the 52 chapters of this book, oracles alternate with passages of history which confirm and illustrate the prophecies. The book as we have it does not follow a chronological or other order because it is, as Saint Jerome described, more a collection of writings than a book in the proper sense. These writings consist of a series of warnings and threats of divine retribution for the unfaithfulness of the chosen people and also for the behavior of the neighboring peoples.
Our reading for today comes from the prologue which gives an account of his calling. It is a dialog between Yahweh and Jeremiah.
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Our second reading this week continues from where we left off last week when we heard the Christian community (the Church) compared to the human body, and that no one part is more important than another as all parts serve to make the common good. Now we go on to discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
