Whenever I have a chance to visit my hometown, there is a part of me that resonates with today’s Gospel passage, especially when I visit the parish I grew up in. It doesn’t matter how old I am, how many years I have been away, or what I am there to do: There will always be that one person who comes up to me, and the first words out of their mouth are “I remember you when you were just a baby!” Others will become upset when they realize that my actions and preaching challenge their ways of thinking or acting.
This is often the problem that arises when we think that we “know” someone. We often tend to put that person into a box and think that we know exactly how that person is going to think or act in a given circumstance. When the person acts differently, we can often become angry, just as the crowds in Nazareth did. Our pride takes over, and we fail to hear the lesson that the person is trying to teach us. We may not try to throw the other person off a cliff, but there is still a rejection that takes place.
The same attitudes can apply to our relationship with Jesus as well. We can think we know who Jesus is and try to keep him confined in a box of our own making. When someone challenges our perception, or when Jesus’ own words do not conform to the box we have placed him in, we often react just as the crowds in Nazareth did. We reject that which challenges our perceptions, and often respond in anger: an anger which is motivated by pride.
What is the remedy to this way of thinking? St. Paul gives us the answer in our second reading, when he speaks about the importance of love in the Christian life. This love that St. Paul speaks of runs far deeper than the romantic love that we see portrayed in movies. It is a love that truly causes us to will the good of another, and to seek to place their needs ahead of our own. It is a love that requires true humility to practice in our daily lives. It is this humility, lived out in love, that will help us to overcome the temptations of pride and self-righteousness in our daily lives.
This weekend, I want to wish a Happy Feast Day to the Parishioners of St. Angela Merici Church. As we celebrate the Feast of St. Angela, we pray that the Lord will continue to bless all of you. May St. Angela’s example of service inspire us all to greater holiness.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Steven Huber, CSB