6 January 2022 – Thursday after Epiphany – Luke 4:14-22

      It is hard being a prophet in your 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. As we continue our journey during the holy season of Christmas, we hear about Jesus' starting his ministry in his hometown with the people who know him so well.  When Jesus came to the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the prophet Isaiah, I am sure a lot of 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 blame the poor for their predicament and tell them to pull themselves out of their poverty.  We domesticate and water down the message we hear in the Gospels so many times.  In hearing Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah with this message of social justice, I think of the Magnificat that Mary declared in response to her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, which contains a similar message of social justice.  I would like to close my homily today with this prayer for social justice.  Let us pray: 

        Lord Jesus, Carpenter and King, supreme Sovereign of all humanity, look with tender mercy upon the multitudes of our day who bear the indignities of injustice everywhere. Raise up leaders in every land dedicated to your standards of order, equity, and justice. Grant unto us, O Lord, the grace to be worthy members of your mystical body here on earth, as we hear the call to labor unceasingly to fulfill our vocation in the social apostolate of your Church. Sharpen our intellects to pierce the chains of prejudice, to perceive the beauty of our human family. Guide our minds to a meaningful understanding of the problems of the poor, the oppressed, the unemployed, of all in need of assistance anywhere. Guide our hearts against the lure of earthly things and undue regard for those who possess them. May we hunger and thirst after justice always. Amen.