He Is the Saviour of All

Don’t you admire those who live their lives with integrity and don’t let popularity tempt them away from living; believing and standing up for what it right and true?

For most of us there is always the temptation to conform and be liked and accepted by others.

We don’t relish being the odd one out or finding ourselves as an outsider. We can clearly see from the Gospel today that those who were listening to Jesus as he taught in the synagogue in Nazareth were full of admiration of him. “All spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth”.

But Jesus spoilt the atmosphere of approval by then linking himself to the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. What he was saying was that he was on a mission that extended far beyond the confines of Israel. The admiration turned to anger and “they sprang to their feet and brought him to the brow of the hill  with the intention of throwing him down the cliff”.

The message of Jesus was a message for the whole of humanity, the whole of creation. He is the saviour of all. Not just for any one particular religious groups. As one commentary wrote: “This is not always easy to accept, as there seems to be a strong human instinct to form loyalty groups – even supermarkets depend on this for their marketing ploys. The people of Nazareth shared this instinct”.

I was recently reminded by Bernard Treacy O.P, that this October will be the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Throughout the documents that came from that council, the word “church” is used in as many as eight senses. “It is important to keep in mind that the conciliar fathers took exceptional care not to identify the Church of Christ with the Catholic Church, deliberating rejecting the word “is” in favour of “subsists in”. We find this in paragraph 8 of the key document ‘Lumen Gentium’: “this Church, constituted and organised as a society in this present, world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although (licet) many elements of sanctification and truth can be found outside her structure; such elements, as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic unity”.

The vocation of all of us, as part of the church, is to love God above all things and to love one another without reservation. This is what St Paul tells us in the second reading today. If we are true to this calling we will experience opposition and rejection.

Lord I thank you for calling me to love as a member of your church. I thank you for the grace you give me to live out this calling in all I do and say. You are my rock where I can take refuge, you are my stronghold