24 March 2025 - Monday of the 3rd week of Lent
Homily
After his baptism by John, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, after which He decided not to begin His ministry in Jerusalem, the center of Judaism, but in the distant province of Galilee, from which He came.
So He began preaching in the synagogue of the main town in that province, Capernaum. After a successful first day of preaching and healing, He withdrew again into the desert for a night of prayer, during which He decided to leave Capernaum and go and preach in the small towns and villages of rural Galilee.
This led Him to His home town of Nazareth. He went to the synagogue, where, according to custom, He was presented with the scroll of Scripture and read the text from Isaiah: "I have sent you". And he concluded: "Today these words of Scripture are fulfilled in your presence", provoking lively reactions from His audience. He then added the words we have just heard: ‘No prophet is welcomed in his own country’, provoking even stronger reactions.
In Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List, Oskar Schindler, speaking to his friend Amon Goeth, tells him that true power does not exist when someone uses force against others to kill them, but when those who have been offended are able to forgive.
In the second part of today's Gospel, we have a beautiful expression of such peaceful and serene power opposing destructive power. The people of Nazareth - Jesus' own town - are so shocked by His words that they already want to kill Him. They chased Him out of the town, drove Him to an escarpment on the hill on which the town was built in order to throw Him down. What happens then? Nothing violent, no resistance from Jesus. He simply passes among them and goes His way. He did not refuse death, but His hour had not yet come. This is still the time to show love simply by not responding to violence with violence. Later, He will have to show the same love by accepting death. In every situation, it is Jesus who wields the real power - the power of love.
Armand Veilleux