Custom

Today’s Gospel Text: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; 17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." ²⁰ And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 22 And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" 23 And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Caper'na-um, do here also in your own country.'" 24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and Eli'jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar'ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na'aman the Syrian." 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. 30 But passing through the midst of them he went away. Luke 4:16-30

Reflection: It is good to have certain fixed customs in life, it can be a great help for us to organize our lives or enjoy peace in the midst of crisis or a load of work.

In vs. 16, of the above Gospel text, we have the example of Jesus who has been brought up in a certain custom and continues to maintain that custom even after being anointed by the Holy Spirit:

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day.”

The scripture text could have told us that he went to the synagogue because he was directed by the Holy Spirit, as it does in an earlier instance, when it reveals to us in Lk. 4: 1, that how the Holy Spirit directed him into the wilderness. 

Thus in a way showing us that there are certain things which may not have its immediate relationship with the action of the Holy Spirit but they do have their roots in the action of the Holy Spirit.

We shouldn’t always expect the Holy Spirit to work afresh and give up on every custom and traditions. By rejecting these we are rejecting the permanency which the Holy Spirit seeks to establish in our midst.

If the earth and all its elements will be destroyed, then it doesn’t mean that we too will be destroyed permanently or the work that Christ has established in our midst.

The Catholic Church and the sacraments are permanent features established by Christ, when he established the new and everlasting covenant, to be often repeated in remembrance of him. 

They are a foretaste  of the eternity that God seeks to establish, the unity centered around his Son Jesus Christ, the eternal lamb sacrificed to bring us eternal peace and life.

Prayer: Lord, help me to adhere to the legitimate customs and traditions which you have established through the church which you have established here on earth.

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