Like most of the sacred sites in the Holy Land, believers through the centuries have marked these places by building churches over them.

This is the case with the synagogue, or local church, where Jesus worshiped here in his hometown of Nazareth.

The synagogue is only a stone’s throw from where I’m sitting right now - and it's where a Malkite church now stands.

This Sunday, when we head to worship, we are going to hear about this synagogue.

Our gospel will tell us the story about Jesus when he went there, unrolled the scroll from Isaiah and announced that Isaiah's prophecy would be fulfilled in him.

This is a story about Jesus coming into his own, Jesus finding his own unique voice.

2,000 years ago, the overwhelming response of those people in that local synagogue was to reject Jesus, question his authority, not believe in him, even to try to kill him.

Subsequently Jesus hiked a day and a half over to Capernaum, where he moved, to launch his public ministry. That's where he found people who believed in him, that's where he found people who would support him.

And so what if Jesus hadn't done this? What if he had based his success on the opinions of those first hearers of his first sermon, just how far would he have gotten?

Not very far!

I think this teaches us something very important about how you and I are to live.

Be careful about how much public opinion we internalize.

Pay close attention to our hearts are telling us.

Listen to and respect our own unique voice.

Going against public opinion for you and me is no less controversial today - it means being hopeful, being understanding, negotiating, and turning the other cheek - it means loving our neighbor as ourselves.

In our divided and anxious society, this behavior is laughed at and scorned.

And this is why we need the same thing Jesus needed to move forward with our unique gifts of reconciliation and love.

May God give us courage, patience, and strength to carry out our call.

I'm here in Nazareth this Sunday so I won't see you, but I will miss you.