Daily Catholic Lectio
Fri, 2 August 2024
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday
Jeremiah 26:1-9. Matthew 13:54-58
Daunting expectations!
If Jesus had put up a carpentry shop in his hometown, people would have not only appreciated him but also might have encouraged him. But instead of that, when they found him preaching and working miracles, they started taking offence at him. Their expectations of Jesus were deviant and discouraging.
Often, we evaluate people: ‘he is this, and he must be this.’ When people prove themselves to be otherwise, we stick to our evaluation. We presume that what we thought and said was correct. Instead of correcting our opinions, we take offence at others.
Something similar happens in today’s gospel reading. The people of Jesus’ hometown take offence at him.
In the first reading, Prophet Jeremiah, standing in front of the temple amidst his own people, prophesied that the temple would fall. People do not accept this as valid and true. Instead of perceiving the message from the prophet, they condemn the prophet. They don’t want to change their lives of idolatry and covenantal infidelity, but they want to do away with the prophet.
In these two events, the men of God – Jesus and Jeremiah – face discouraging expectations from their own kith and kin.
What do we learn from these events?
(a) When we see others, we must never be judgmental. Any type of critical mindset creates a discriminative and divisive attitude.
(b) Prejudices often act as curtains between others and us. We must be conscious of the prejudices that we have and remove them.
(c) We must not expect others to behave or act as we want them to behave or act. Everyone has a unique identity and mission in the world. We need to respect them.
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A pilgrim of hope will know that daunting expectations create differences among us. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 163).
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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