Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 24, 2025
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.
Today’s Gospel reading from Luke recounts Jesus in Nazareth, declaring, “No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Jesus faced rejection and a lack of faith in his hometown. But by referencing Elijah and Elisha, Jesus shows that God’s mercy extends beyond Israel, revealing God’s plan for us all.
In contrast, as we observe the Feast of the Annunciation tomorrow, we celebrate Mary’s undying faith. When the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive the Son of God, she accepts God’s will with unwavering trust. Mary, a humble young woman from this same Nazareth, was chosen for an extraordinary role in salvation history.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to notice God’s work in our everyday lives. We wonder, “Does God even see me?” However, just as God chose Mary, God chooses us to witness the countless wonders in our own lives—even something as small as the flowers blooming after a long rain or sunlight breaking through the clouds after days of grey skies. Like the Nazarenes, we can be so desensitized, so close to the works of God active in our lives, that we miss that God has a plan for us all. If we trust God, we will see God’s plan unfold.
In the Magnificat Choir, we honor Mary’s faith and courage when we sing the Hail Mary. Though uncertain and afraid, she embraced God’s will with trust. As we journey through Lent, we reflect on Mary’s pain as she watched her Son suffer. We praise her for her unwavering strength as Jesus was nailed to the cross. Even in a time of sorrow, she remained by Jesus’ side, believing in God’s promise that her Son would be saved.
So this Lenten season, when we feel lost, alone, or credulous of God’s work in our lives, may we follow Mary’s example and trust that even in our darkest moments, God is at work, bringing light and hope to us all.
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
On October 14, 2018, Pope Francis canonized seven new saints of the Church, one of whom was the much-loved Archbishop Óscar Romero, long honored as a saint and martyr by the people of El Salvador. In standing with the marginalized and standing up to those who use their power to abuse and oppress the poor among the children of God, even at the cost of his life, Óscar Romero truly embodied Christ's words in John's Gospel: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13).
Óscar Romero was born on August 15, 1917, in Cuidad Barrios, El Salvador. The young Óscar attended the local public school from grades 1-3, and then studied under a tutor, as the public school offered no further education. His father trained Óscar as a carpenter, and, while Óscar was quite adept as a carpenter's apprentice, he wanted to become a priest. Thus, Óscar entered the minor seminary in San Miguel at the age of thirteen, and then the national seminary in San Salvador after his graduation.
Óscar attended the Gregorian University in Rome, completing his studies cum laude at the age of twenty-four, one year too young to be ordained a priest. Accordingly, Óscar was ordained a year later, on April 4, 1942, in the thick of World War II. Óscar obtained another degree in theology, and then, once called back by his bishops, he returned home to El Salvador at the age of twenty-six.
Óscar was assigned to a parish and quickly gained a reputation for his care for the imprisoned and the poor, and his beautiful, impassioned sermons. In 1970, Óscar was appointed an auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, then, in 1974, he was appointed the bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de María, a rural diocese.
On February 23, 1977, Óscar was appointed archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador's capital. Many wealthy members of the city's elite were pleased that Óscar, a Roman-trained, conservative bishop, had been appointed. As Marxist-infused liberation theology was growing in popularity throughout Latin America, those in power feared being ousted. But, to their chagrin, very soon after his appointment, the new Archbishop Romero's theological and political ideas underwent a rapid transformation. On March 12, 1977, Archbishop Romero's dear friend Rutilio Grande, himself a Catholic priest, was cruelly murdered by government thugs. Grande had been living in solidarity with the rural poor and speaking out against the military government. Grande’s death was a watershed moment for Archbishop Romero, as he realized that being a Catholic and being a priest meant standing with the poor and being a prophet against the establishment. Archbishop Romero ordered three days of mourning and a funeral mass in San Salvador's cathedral, despite advice to the contrary from those who feared government repercussions.
The rise to power of the Revolutionary Government Junta in 1979 led to increasing violence across the country, which would eventually become over twelve years of fighting. This escalating violence of the Salvadorean Civil War began to tear the country at the seams. Throughout the civil unrest, Archbishop Romero called for peace, held accountable the governments that were financing the violence, and criticized the Salvadorean government for its persecution of the Catholic Church. In his homily at Mass on March 23, the day before he died, Archbishop Romero rebuked the Salvadorean army for its violence against the citizens of El Salvador: “In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I beg you, I implore you, I order you, in the name of God, stop the repression!”
Óscar Romero was murdered on March 24, 1980, while consecrating the Eucharist during Mass. His last words were a prayer for mercy for his assassin. Despite the danger of attending the funeral, thousands of Salvadorans attended his funeral Mass, even as the army fired into the congregation. His assassin has never been brought to justice.
Pope Francis beatified Óscar Romero in May 2015 in San Salvador. A crowd of more than 250,000 gathered to pay their respects to Archbishop Romero. Óscar Romero was canonized on October 14, 2018 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Saint Óscar Romero, bishop, martyr, and prophetic voice for the people of God—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Óscar Romero, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Óscar Romero is in the public domain. Last accessed March 25, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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