09/02/2025
Luke 4:31-37 Jesus went down
to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were
astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue
there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud
voice, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and
said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down
in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all
amazed and said to one another, "What is there about his word? For with
authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
Because we live in such a mobile
society, many people often have two hometowns. That is, a town that they are
born into and another town they are adopted into. For example, I was born in
New Delhi, India and lived there for about 7 years. When my family moved to the
United States, we lived in several places: New York City, Hillsboro, TX, and
finally Little Rock.
But for the past 12 years I have
lived in the great metropolis of Fort Smith. And like General Custer, I think
this will be my last stand. Bishop Taylor told us priests that once he finds a
good fit for a priest in a certain parish, he does not like to move them. So,
let’s all pretend Immaculate Conception in Fort Smith is a really good fit for
me and for you parishioners so the bishop will leave me here.
So, now I have two hometowns: New
Delhi, India by birth and Fort Smith, AR by adoption. And I really love my
adopted hometown. Every time I travel to NWA or Texas or Florida to visit
family or friends, I feel great peace, joy, and excitement coming home to Fort
Smith. There is no feeling like driving over the Garrison Bridge and seeing
Immaculate Conception Church standing tall at the head of the avenue, not
unlike how Odysseus felt in returning home to Ithica after the 20 year Trojan
War.
When we study closely the geography
of Jesus’ life on earth, we quickly discover that our Lord also had two
hometowns. We know that after being born in Bethlehem, our Lord was taken by
Mary and Joseph to Nazareth, where he lived for 30 years. For all practical
purposes, Nazareth was Jesus’ native town. The word “native” means where
someone was born or raised, like New Delhi for me.
But Jesus had a second hometown by
adoption, namely, Capernaum, about 40 miles northeast of Nazareth. In today’
gospel from Luke 4:31-37, we see Jesus entering his second hometown, Capernaum,
and preaching with authority and even driving out demons with the power of God.
By the way, I too have tried to preach with authority – I have published 3
books of my preaching – and I drive out demons every time I baptize a baby,
indeed in administering any sacraments the demons flee.
In other words, for 3 years of his
public ministry, from the age of 30 when he left Nazareth to the age of 33 when
he journeyed to Jerusalem for his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus sets
up shop in Capernaum, his second hometown by adoption. And significantly, it is
in Capernaum that Jesus calls his first disciples: Andrew and Peter, James and
John, and Matthew the tax-collector in Capernaum.
Nonetheless, Jesus’ true mission
and ministry was not to teach us how to feel comfortable in our hometowns by
birth or by adoption. Rather, he came to show us our true home is heaven. The
Letter to the Hebrews underscores this point several times. In Heb 11:10 we
read: “For [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose
architect and builders is God.
And toward the end in Heb 13:14,
one of my favorite passages, we learn: “We have here no lasting city” – not
even Fort Smith – “but we seek the one that is to come.” In other words, as
Christians more than we love our hometown by birth and even more than we long
to return to our hometown by adoption (like I love returning to Fort Smith), we
should look forward to our ultimate hometown called “heaven.”
And every time we enter this church
and celebrate Mass, we should feel like we have sacramentally traveled to our
heavenly homeland. If we open our eyes of faith we will see this church at Mass
crowded with the citizens of heaven: angels, saints, martyrs, apostles,
prophets, kings, priests, and seated next to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the queen Mother.
As Heb 12:22 puts it: “You have
approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering.” And we should long for that heavenly
homecoming even more than Odysseus longed for Ithica, because that is the
deepest layer of meaning of that ancient Greek epic. And heaven will be our
real last stand.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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