Daily Catholic Lectio
Mon, 24 March ‘25
Third Week of Lent – Monday
2 Kings 5:1–15. Psalm 42. Luke 4:24–30
Resistance and Resilience
The first two weeks of Lent focus on a call to personal conversion. From the third week onward, our attention shifts more directly to Jesus and His Passion. The Cross and suffering were not events that occurred only at the end of His ministry—they followed Jesus like a shadow from the moment of His birth.
Just a few days after His birth, King Herod seeks to kill Jesus (cf. Matthew 2). In today’s Gospel, the evangelist Luke records how Jesus is rejected by His own townspeople. Jesus begins His public ministry in the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth. He reads the words of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (cf. Isaiah 61), thereby declaring who He is and what His mission will be.
Instead of focusing on His message, the people stumble over the background of the messenger.
Rather than saying, “Well done, son!” they question, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Jesus then presents a theological insight: God’s prophets will be accepted by outsiders and rejected by their own. To support this, He gives two examples:
The widow of Zarephath, who welcomed Elijah;
The leper Naaman, who accepted Elisha and Israel’s God.
Jesus highlights these examples, and the people of Nazareth feel humiliated. In rage, they drive Him out of the synagogue and lead Him to a cliff to throw Him down.
What John says in his Gospel is literally fulfilled here: “He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).
Why did the people of Nazareth oppose Jesus?
(a) He stepped outside their defined boundaries.
Their unspoken message to Jesus was: “Stick to what your town has defined for you—be a carpenter, a tax collector, a donkey herder—but don’t go beyond those limits!” They couldn’t accept Him stepping out of the mould they set for Him.
(b) He highlighted Gentiles as models of faith.
This offended their sense of ethnic pride and revealed their deep-rooted prejudice.
How did Jesus respond to this rejection?
Luke says: “He passed through the midst of them and went away.”
Jesus didn’t try to prove who He was.
He didn’t ask for a voice from heaven to affirm Him.
He didn’t call down fire to consume the people.
He simply walked away—in silence.
That is the model response to resistance: quiet departure, without conflict.
We, too, must respond to rejection in our lives by walking forward in silence and calm acceptance, without bitterness or retaliation.
In the First Reading, we hear of the healing of the leper Naaman. It is a remarkable story of how God uses unexpected people to bring healing. A young girl’s word leads Naaman to the land of Israel. Though initially hesitant, Naaman listens to the words of the prophet Elisha, and eventually to the advice of his own servants. His humility, hesitation, and openness ultimately bring him to faith and healing.
Today’s reflection:
How do we receive Jesus in our lives today?
How do we respond when we face opposition or rejection?
Let us learn from Jesus—who responded to rejection not with anger but with silent perseverance.
Resistance must be responded with resilience! This is the key takeaway.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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