First Reading – Ezekiel 2:2-5;
Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10;
Gospel – Mark 6:1-6
Do not allow rejection to derail your dreams The annals of human history are replete with case after case of good people being rejected by those who knew them best. Beethoven, for example, had a rather awkward playing style and preferred to work at his own compositions rather than play the compositions of the classical artists of his day. Disapproving of his technique, his teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four and could not read until age nine. His school master said that he was “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift in his foolish dreams, and that he would never amount to anything.” Thomas Edison’s teachers advised his parents to keep him home from school, stating that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” In his autobiography, Charles Darwin wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.” Brilliant British Theologian G.K. Chesterton could not read until he was eight years old. A teacher said if his head were opened, they would probably find a lump of fat where there was supposed to be a brain. That teacher was wrong. Ernest Hemingway, the great novelist, was told by his teachers,” Forget about writing; you don’t have enough talent for it.” Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was rejected by seven publishers.
This was the case with Jesus, with Paul and with Ezekiel. Each of the readings for today’s liturgy challenges our human propensity for labelling and limiting, and each invites believers to begin to look at God, the world, and one another with more open eyes and more receptive hearts
Today’s three readings from the Holy Scriptures echo the Christian virtues of obedience, servitude and humility that should be the part of every Christian life. In the First Reading from the Book of Ezekiel, begins with the powerful vision granted to the prophet while he was living with the exiles in Babylonia. Through the vision he learns of the rebellion of people and their disloyalty to God. He is called upon to tell the people of the security they must look for in their God who will be their protector. In the overwhelming presence of God Ezekiel collapses and the Spirit of God enters him, giving him strength to stand on his feet and commissioned him to go to the people of Israel and to preach to them. During his commission, Ezekiel was warned that there was a possibility that the people would reject the divine message that he was delivering. His task has been specially to proclaim God’s message to his people. God does not promise him an easy time.
In the Second Reading Paul tells of the real danger even in serving God where the virtue of obedience can make a person proud and self-sufficient. As we mature in Christ, by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, we gain greater understanding and knowledge of the spiritual mysteries of Christ and his mystical Body. We are called to always remember that if our spiritual work shines in inspirations because we have the gift of teaching, it is because it is a gift of teaching. It is not because of anything that we can or have achieved on our own. All praise and glory should always be given to the Lord God for his spiritual work that is manifested through us as humble servants. Here Paul speaking about a thorn in the flesh tells the Christians that God provides all of us with a message to the extent of being tormented, to keep a person from being too elated. We are not going to speculate as to what was the thorn because it is not revealed in the Bible.
The Gospel of today begins with the episode when Jesus goes back to his hometown, Nazareth along with his disciples. His fellow townsmen had heard about his fame, the extraordinary miracles he had worked around the other towns of Galilee, and the way he attracted huge crowds around him wherever he went and preached. Many of those who heard him for the first time in their own synagogue were astonished at his wisdom and learning. They wondered about the source of his wisdom for they were aware that he had studied to be a Rabbi and they could not understand the miraculous powers he possessed. All these years of stay in the village, they knew him as a person one among them, an ordinary carpenter. They knew his mother and father and all his relatives. They were too familiar with him. Familiarity breeds contempt is the term that accurately summarizes the return of Jesus to his hometown Nazareth. Jesus seems to be aware of their quick negative response and attempts to head it off by quoting a well-known Hellenistic proverb about a prophet not being well accepted in his native place and by the prophet’s own people.
Today’s readings call us to awaken our hearts so we may see the divine truth beyond the human appearance of those we know. It is hard to understand the irrational opposition of the people of Nazareth during the visit of Jesus to his village and of the Pharisees and scribes later. The people of Nazareth had all wonderful reports about Jesus and on reflection could have seen in him the true messiah. Instead, they turned against him in bitter hatred and then decided to put an end to his career. Luke tells us that they wanted to throw him down the cliff of the mountain. There was the tinge of pride and envy that made them refuse to accept him. Their hatred towards him made them close their eyes against all goodness he possessed. This is a typical human situation which is repeated later and led him to the cross.