The following are homilies, images, clipart, multimedia slides and video you might find useful for your celebration of the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). This Sunday’s Gospel tells us that Jesus declares, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” But those who heard Him rose up and led Him to the brow of the hill that they might throw Him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them Jesus went away.

READINGS

FIRST READING: Jer 1:4-5, 17-19
PSALM: Ps 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
SECOND READING: 1 Cor 12:31—13:13 or 13:4-13
GOSPEL: Lk 4:21-30

HOMILIES

• He Broke All of the Rules [www.bible.claret.org]
  Poor Jesus didn’t have a chance! He broke all of the rules. When he began to preach he had just come in from a long fast in the desert looking like a starved animal. He addressed his own people and told them the truth about themselves. They answered “Who does this fellow think he is? Isn’t he the son of Joe the Panday?” He challenged them to change their ways and to become responsible for themselves. So what did the people do? They eventually took him out and crucified him. But even in death Jesus did not keep the rules. In the business world a dead competitor is no longer a threat. But Jesus came back and the kingdom he established has continued through the ages while empires have risen and collapsed. Read more…
• Today this Scripture has been Fulfilled in Your Hearing [dailyscripture.net]
  How would you react if Jesus spoke this message in your worshipping community? It was customary for Jesus to go weekly to the synagogue to worship and on occasion to read the scriptures and comment on them to the people. His hometown folks listened with rapt attention on this occasion because they had heard about the miracles he had performed in other towns. What sign would he do in his hometown? Jesus startled them with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own people. He then angered them when he complimented the gentiles who seemed to have shown more faith in God than the “chosen ones” of Israel. They regarded gentiles as “fuel for the fires of hell”. Jesus’ praise for “outsiders” caused them offence because they were blind-sighted to God’s mercy and plan of redemption for all nations. Read more…
• 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time [www.catholicmatters.com]
  We would not, of course, openly deny Christ, much less try, like his neighbors in Nazareth, to throw him to his death over a cliff; but how often in our private actions, and in our dealings with our neighbors, do we push him and his doctrine quietly aside and act as if we knew him not. In this we are no better than Christ’s neighbors of Nazareth and we grieve his loving heart as much as they did on that sad day. Am I one of those (each one of us can ask himself)? Do I really love Christ or, to put it in a more personal way, do I really love myself? If I do, I will not risk losing my place in the eternal kingdom for the sake of some paltry pleasure or gain in this present life which will end for me so very soon. Read more…

IMAGES

To view and download their full size versions, please click on the images or the names of the artists/sources.

CLIPART

SLIDE PRESENTATION

The following presentation can be downloaded here.

VIDEO

The video below shows Jesus declaring that the Scripture passage He has just read has come true in Him. But the crowd rose up and led Him to the brow of the hill that they might throw Him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them Jesus went away. It can be downloaded here.