Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 13, 2023
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Before Covid, I had never contemplated how Jesus’ hometown rejected him. But three years out from a stressful pandemic, I understand how rival world views create factions in my country, workplace, church, and family. When are we Jesus, prophesying God’s word? When are we the people in the furious crowd, driving away those who show us ourselves?
In today’s gospel, Jesus passes through the midst of fury—he does not face it, does not accept it, does not hide from it, and does not argue with it. That “midst” part frightens me because as someone who often feels caught in the middle of the prophets and crowds, I seek controllable ways to react and respond.
Jesus relinquishes any control. He does not fight to mend broken relationships. He passes through them. We know that Jesus does not stop his ministry either, continuing to prophesy good news so radical it leads to his betrayal, torture, and execution.
Jesus believes so adamantly in his message that he dies because of it. Still, he never attacks, never diminishes, and never forces his ideas, instead allowing his executioners to assert their ideas with “you say that it is so.” Even at his trial before death, Jesus remains silent amid the crowd, allowing them to accuse and rival him.
Jesus’ humility is so pure that, even to the point of death, he does not demand recognition or reverence for who he is. In our hometown spaces, I pray that, as prophets, we walk boldly yet calmly in the midst as Christ does, and as part of a crowd, we recognize Christ in our neighbors.
Prayer
Lord Jesus: In your hometown synagogue you told your neighbors that no prophet is accepted in his native place and that prophets tell people what they don’t want to hear. They turned on you! Lord Jesus, give me the strength to speak your word even in the face of rejection. Amen.
Saint of the Day
As a missionary, Bl. Agnellus took the Franciscan way of life—poverty, simplicity, prayerfulness, community—to England in both word and deed.
He was born to a family of nobles in Pisa, Italy, in 1195. St. Francis himself received him into the Franciscan order. Even though he was a deacon, he was sent to Paris to start a Franciscan mission there. From there, he was sent to England with nine other Franciscans.
True to the spirit of St. Francis, they set out for England with no money. A monastery near the coast paid for their passage to Dover. When they arrived, they settled at Canterbury in a building that was used as a school by day. They had to stay huddled in a back room while students were in the building, and after they had left, the Franciscans could come out and make themselves feel at home with a fire. For sustenance, they had only a little bread and a thick beer that had to be diluted with water. These conditions, however, did not dampen their spirits and they were quickly known for their simple piety, cheerfulness, and enthusiasm. The community grew and they secured a place to live in London and a school at Oxford.
King Henry III befriended Agnellus, and admired his holiness and purity. He asked Agnellus to serve as a diplomat and to negotiate a dispute between the king and an earl that threatened civil war.
Agnellus was known as a deeply prayerful man. He shed tears continually during Mass because he was moved so deeply, but he did not make any kind of show of his piety. He strictly followed a commitment to poverty. He only consented to build anything when it was a last resort, it was said, and one of the infirmaries was built so simply that its ceilings were only barely higher than a person.
He died at the age of 41 of natural causes in 1236, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
Blessed Agnellus of Pisa, you were the Franciscan missionary who founded centers of study and prayer in England—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Agnellus of Pisa is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed February 6, 2025.