Gospel (Lk 4,24-30) - At that time, Jesus [began to say in the synagogue in Nazareth:] «Truly I say to you: no prophet is welcome in his homeland. Indeed, truly I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months and there was a great famine throughout the land; but Elias was sent to none of them, except to a widow in Sarèpta di Sidon. There were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha; but none of them was purified except Naaman the Syrian." When everyone in the synagogue heard these things, they were filled with indignation. They rose up and drove him out of the city and led him to the edge of the mountain, on which their city was built, to throw him down. But he, passing among them, set out.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus, faced with the annoyed reaction of the Nazarenes at his first preaching in the village synagogue, responds with a well-known saying of the time: "No prophet is welcome in his homeland". Jesus is experiencing this firsthand. The reason that pushes the Nazarenes not to accept evangelical preaching is their decision not to want to recognize Jesus as having authority over their lives. He is too similar to them, they know where he comes from, they know who his family members are, he cannot come from Above. But this is the very mystery of the Gospel: they are simple, human words and yet in them it is God himself who speaks. And in those who let themselves be shaped by the Gospel there is a reflection of the authority of God. Faith means a gaze that sees beyond appearance and knows how to rely on the Spirit of God who speaks through his Church, and all those who continue to be sent among us. Those who are poor and needy, those who feel like a beggar for meaning and love, manage to let their hearts be touched by the evangelical words and witnesses of faith. On the contrary, those who are full of their own pride have no ears to hear, no mind to understand, no heart to be passionate. He is full of himself and he thinks he doesn't need anyone. Jesus gives the example of Elijah who, among the numerous widows, only went to that of Zarephath and the case of the prophet Elisha who healed only Naaman the Syrian among many lepers. The Lord sends his prophets to everyone and shows mercy towards everyone, but only the poor and the sick allow their hearts to be touched and listen to their words. The inhabitants of Nazareth, faced with Jesus' reaction which highlighted their disbelief, rebelled and tried to kill him by throwing him off the cliff. The Gospel of mercy annoys those who are used to thinking only of themselves. The love of God that extends to the poor, as was the widow of Serephath, and to the sick, as was Naaman the Syrian. Those who are rich and healthy do not feel the urgency to ask for help. He easily closes himself in his own egocentrism, disinterested in others. He certainly doesn't feel the need to ask for help, to invoke protection, to beg for love. Instead he easily demands satisfaction and satisfaction for himself. Precisely how their fellow citizens behaved towards Jesus. And in the face of denial they are even capable of irresponsible gestures. But Jesus, Luke writes, went further. The Gospel, no matter how much we try to throw it away, always remains a fountain that gushes forth and quenches the thirst of anyone who approaches and draws water.