Fr Paul reads from Luke’s Gospel (4: 24-30) in which Jesus tells his disciples, ‘no prophet is ever accepted in his own country’.

Fr Paul says, we are clearly told today’s Gospel, takes place in Nazareth. It is also taking place at the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry. In short, the Nazarenes have been given the chance to be first recipients of Jesus’s message. They turn this chance down. They think they know him too well and, so, Jesus turns to the Gentiles.

Fr Paul notes that this passage does not occur in the other Gospels. He says its message is relevant for us because we can ask ourselves, as our Lenten journey continues, in what ways do I reject the message of Christ?