7 January 2021 – Thursday after Epiphany – Raymond of Peñafort – Luke 4:14-22

      It is hard being a prophet in one’s own land.  It is hard talking about matters of faith with family or friends or neighbors.  It is hard living out our vocation or calling if it defies the expectations that people have for us.  When Jesus came to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and read from the scroll from the prophet Isaiah, many people were shocked and amazed.  It was a radical message he read – of bringing glad tidings to the poor, of setting the oppressed free, of giving sight to the blind, of giving liberty to the captives.  Often we do the opposite of this message that Jesus and the prophets bring. We want the captives to remain behind bars.  We want revenge on those who brings us harm.  We condemn the poor.  We often domesticate and water down the message we hear Jesus preach in the Gospel.  Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador who was martyred for the faith while celebrating mass by the military forces of his own country, said this: “A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed -- what gospel is that?” Our faith is not just about preaching about God’s heavenly kingdom and waiting for the end times or in our eternal life with Christ. The Gospel is not just about a God who lives in the heavens - it is about proclaiming the Good News in the here and now. 

      As we hear a very challenging Gospel message, we celebrate a very interesting saint today from Barcelona, Spain who lived in the 12th century: St Raymond of Peñafort.   He was very devoted to the Blessed Mother as a child and a youth, where his tender heart touched those with whom he came into contact.  He became a famous teacher, but left that to join the Dominicans, and then later help founded an order that helped the poor Christians of his day who had been captured by the Moors in his native country of Spain. Raymond is most well known today for having codified and rearranged Canon Law for Pope Gregory IX, a system that largely stayed in place for about 700 years, until the new codification of Canon Law in 1917.  So, St Raymond of Peñafort is deservedly known as the patron saint of all lawyers, and specifically Canon Lawyers.  He lived to be 100 years old.  Raymond of Peñafort is a great example of faith for us.