A homily on Luke 4:38-44 : When Love Offers Freedom and Not Possession (3-9-25)

 A homily on Luke 4:38-44 reflecting on the words “They tried to keep him from leaving,” teaching us about love, mission, and true freedom. (3-9-25)

Praise be to Jesus Christ

Once, a boy kept two little love birds in a cage. He fed them well and admired their colourful feathers every day. But whenever he saw them as flapping  their wings against the bars, he felt desperate. One day, his grandfather said, “If you really love them, allow them to fly. Love is not about keeping caged, but it is giving freedom.”  Listening his grandfather, the boy opened the cage. Even the birds flew high, they often returned to rest on the roof-top of the house. They were free, yet they did not forget where they had received the care.

In the Gospel today (Luke 4:38-44), a line strikes and catch our sight. “They tried to keep him from leaving” (Lk 4:42). The people had seen Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law and the many sick who were brought to Him. Who would not want to keep such a person close? Yet Jesus did not remain. He said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Lk 4:43). His mission was not bound into one village, no matter how much the people loved Him and restricted him to leave.

In the Old Testament, Abraham had to let go of his homeland and even his only son into God’s hands. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, had to give her child back to God’s service in the temple. They were aware of the fact that they are mere care-givers and not owners of God’s creations. Abba father offered His only Son for redeeming the entire humanity. Mother Mary and St. Joseph happily accepted this call and remained obedient to God’s plan amidst pain and trials. Love and letting go are much interrelated in God’s story.

This is a hard truth for us too. In family life, Parents often hold on to children or loved ones. They hesitate when a son or daughter chooses a vocation to priesthood or religious life perceiving it as a loss. But true love, like the boy with the birds, means letting them go where God calls them. Everything is a gift of God and we were selected out of His mercy to receive that gift. We should have an attitude like that of a servant as Lk 17:10 reminds: “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty”.  Holding on too tightly to our wishes can block God’s plan.

In religious life, the same struggle appears. We may want to remain in familiar places, with familiar people, but Jesus calls us beyond. Saint Francis Xavier, when he left his homeland for faraway Asia, wrote that love for Christ pushed him to cross oceans. If he had stayed in comfort, millions would not have heard the Gospel. Think of the disciples who journeyed far to spread the Good News. 

The people in today’s Gospel thought they were doing something good by keeping Jesus close. Yet their love was diluted with self-interest. They wanted miracles, security, and comfort for themselves. But Jesus reminded them that His mission was beyond. He was sent not to one family or one town, but to all (Lk 4:43).

This speaks to our own hearts. Sometimes we keep Jesus for ourselves, in our small devotions, in our personal prayers, but we forget that He wants to move outward, through us, into the world. If we keep Him locked in our little cage, His mission is muted. He must be free to act through our words, through our service, through our willingness to go beyond comfort zones. We are trying to confine Jesus into our wishes than growing to His wish.

In families, this means not only praying together at home, but also reaching out to a neighbour in need. In religious life, it means not only caring for our own community, but also going to the peripheries, where Christ longs to be known. Even Peter wished to stay in the mountain, Jesus came to the crowd and healed the demon possessed boy after transfiguration. Let us also spread the God …

The boy with the love birds discovered that when he set them free, they did not vanish forever. They returned, but now with joy, not with chains. In the same way, when we let go and allow Jesus and His mission to go beyond us, He comes back to us in a deeper way. His presence is no longer caged but alive, full, and free.

 Lord, let me be attached only to you and your mission. Amen.

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