January 6, 2015.
The Ministry in Galilee
A reading from the Gospel of Saint Luke 4, 14 – 30:
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in the synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’ ” And he said, “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 bad been built, to hurl him down head-long. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
A wintry storm passed over the Island yesterday and during the night. It snowed but not much and then the freezing rain fell. There are a few centimeters of snow here at this time but what was worst was the freezing rain. The roads became very slippery and I went out and fell on the ice twice. It was very slippery indeed. I used the salt I had and spread it around the house so that I would not fall again. In the evening the roads were still slippery in spots but the road workers passed and spread sand everywhere and the cars could go by without much trouble. It is supposed to be very cold tonight.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Come My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters and follow Me during My public life as we go through the Gospel. After My forty days in the desert and having been tempted three times by the devil, I left that place and went to Galilee especially to the town of Nazareth were I grew up. Many people had heard what had happened since I began My public life and they had difficulty believing all they heard. Anyway on the Sabbath day I went to the synagogue in Nazareth and many people of that town were present. I was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to read. What I read was a prophecy about Me. It said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” I told the people at the synagogue that these words were fulfilled that day. For indeed I am the one who came filled with the Holy Spirit and to bring glad tidings to the poor. One in the group asked Me, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” This shows that they had difficulty to accept what I was saying. I told them that no prophet is accepted in his own native place. After I had finished talking to the people, they were all furious and they grabbed Me and brought Me to the tip of the hill and they wanted to throw Me down to kill Me. However, My time had not yet arrived, so I just started walking in their midst and went away. So you see the place where I had grown up refused to believe in Me and they wanted to kill Me. They could not accept that I was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. I could not do any healings in that town because they did not accept Me. This is what happens today too when the people do not accept Me. There will be no healings in their midst and they will continue to suffer. It is absolutely important that you believe in Me so I can do the work I was called to do for you. Pray regularly and ask for an increase of faith so I can lift you out of darkness and bring you to the light, the light that comes from Me. I bless you all.”
Father Melvin