Catechism Links[1]
CCC 2581-2584: Prophets and conversion of heart
CCC 436: Christ as prophet
CCC 162: Perseverance in faith
CCC 268, 273, 1508: Power is made perfect in weakness
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| “Jesus at the Brow of the Hill in Nazareth” by James Tissot, 1886-96 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ezekiel 2:2-5
Commentary on Ez 2:2-5
The introduction to the prophet in the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel describes the heavenly vision in which the prophet is engaged. In the beginning of the second chapter, God issues his call to Ezekiel, sending him to call the Israelites back to faithfulness from which they had rebelled. The implication is clear: the prophet is to expect resistance, but God’s support will identify him as coming from the Lord God.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Commentary on Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
Psalm 123 is an individual lament. In these strophes we hear the prayer of the psalmist who expresses faith in God’s power. Using the image of the vulnerable servant, the song pleads to God for salvation from those who have the power to harm them.
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Reading II: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Commentary on 2 Cor 12:7-10
As part of his defense of his own apostolate, St. Paul describes, in rather convoluted terms, an out-of-body experience in which Christ revealed the mission he was to undertake. Rather than helping him, these revelations brought persecution, “a thorn in the flesh.” The Apostle uses his Christ-like response to physical and rhetorical challenges by saying that, through his weakness and humility, he is given the power of the Holy Spirit to carry on the Lord’s work.
“The passage also shows us what attitude we should take to our own weakness: 'We have to glory.' St Alphonsus says, 'in the knowledge of our own weakness in order to acquire the strength of Jesus Christ, which is holy humility,' without 'giving in to lack of confidence, as the devil wants, and falling into more serious sins' ('Treasury of Preaching Material', II, 6).” [5]
CCC: 2 Cor 12:9 268, 273, 1508
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Gospel: Mark 6:1-6
Commentary on Mk 6:1-6
This passage is St. Mark’s account of the Lord returning to his home town. As is his custom, he goes to speak in the synagogue and amazes the people he grew up with. The Lord encounters intense skepticism, born out of the fact that the people knew him before he took up his mission. In St. Luke's version (Luke 4:28ff), reference is made to the feeling that Jesus, in assuming the role of the Messiah, had blasphemed. The resulting attempt on his life is omitted in St. Mark's Gospel, but we still see the Lord’s response to their lack of faith. Non-canonical documents of the early Church Fathers (c. 400) refer to the relationships of the brothers and sisters of Jesus. See The History of Joseph the Carpenter.
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Homily:
There have been numerous stories written about people returning to their home towns, sometimes as successes and sometimes as failures. In almost all of those stories, the person returning finds the people have changed or seem to have changed. Attitudes toward that individual are different, or so it seems. It is something like going back to the playground you knew as a child, and seeing the “big slide” you remember being quite small. Ultimately there is truth to the old saying: “you can’t go home.” What you knew and how you knew it will not be the same.
Jesus finds the same situation in the Gospel story today. He goes home and, as it was his custom when he was still living with his parents, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. When he got up and took part in the service, the people who had known him since he was a boy rejected what he had to say, not because they were not amazed, certainly they must have been, but rather because it was Joseph’s son Jesus, who was teaching from the scriptures. They knew him from boyhood, and while he was no doubt a model son and well respected by everyone, they probably had thought him a bit too good, perhaps even strange. Would we not think the same of a child who grew up with us, but never did anything wrong, never got into serious trouble, was always kind and thoughtful?
Here was this boy, now telling them what God was saying in scriptures. Matthew says:
“They said, ‘Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?’”
(As a side note; there is an ancient document from the around the fourth century called “The History of Joseph the Carpenter” In that document the following mention is made regarding Jesus’ extended family:
“There was a man whose name was Joseph, sprung from a family of Bethlehem, a town of Judah, and the city of King David. This same man, being well furnished with wisdom and learning, was made a priest in the temple of the Lord. He was, besides, skillful in his trade, which was that of a carpenter; and after the manner of all men, he married a wife. Moreover, he begot for himself sons and daughters, four sons, namely, and two daughters. Now these are their names— Judas, Justus, James, and Simon. The names of the two daughters were Assia and Lydia. At length the wife of righteous Joseph, a woman intent on the divine glory in all her works, departed this life. But Joseph, that righteous man, my father after the flesh, and the spouse of my mother Mary, went away with his sons to his trade, practicing the art of a carpenter.”)
It was then that Jesus must have had that sinking feeling, saying to himself: “you can’t go home.”
We each are challenged by this same set of circumstances. Our Bishop, Earl Boyea, has called upon each of us through his pastoral letter “Go and Announce the Gospel of the Lord” issued six years ago. It is a strategic map to help us combat the toll being taken by the systematic attack on traditional Christian values being waged by secular society. He calls on us to revitalize our church, reaching out to others in the New Evangelization.
While we may think of this as a call to reach out to the unchurched, or those who are not of the Catholic faith, he makes it clear that the first demographic we must reach out to are those of us still in active communion with the faith community. How can we give water to the thirsty when our own bucket is empty?
Fr. Bill and his leadership team (the pastoral staff and advisory councils) have been working hard to give us the tools to build up our spiritual strength, fill our buckets if you will. A First Good Step was a series of small group faith sharing meetings focused on our Creed that began two years ago. We began a series that will start again in a few short months in program called Alpha for Catholics. It is another opportunity for us to fill our spiritual tool box; making us stronger Christians in a world increasingly hostile to what we stand for.
In that step, we reach out to those who have fallen away or who are “marginally” Catholic (or not Catholic at all but interested). With this Gospel story from St. Matthew staring us squarely in the face, we must ask: who among us do not have friends, family members or coworkers who fall into these categories? These are the ones we are called to reach out to first. And the Gospel shows us how!
Jesus does not “buttonhole” the unbelievers. He uses his words and actions as examples. He does not criticize people. He challenges their actions and calls them to a higher standard through his own behavior.
So what are we called to do? We are called become “better Catholics.”
- We are asked first, not to hide who we are and what we believe.
- We must show it. When talk of politics comes up at the office or at school or with friends, we should be pointing the threats to religious freedom and the erosion of values we see.
- When talk gets crude or bigoted we should be polite but firm, saying that we do not appreciate that kind of talk or humor or attitudes that demean others.
- We should be the first to help those in difficulty and demonstrate our adherence to the Great Commandment: “Love one another.”
And if we don’t feel comfortable taking these actions we must ask why. Is it because we don’t know how to say what needs to be said, or is it because we ourselves lack the courage? We can educate ourselves to remedy the first and pray fervently to be given the second.
The Lord shows us what it is like to go home, to take a message to the people who know us best. He shows us the difficulty we will face. Our Bishop bids us to follow his example. We must now look inside and find there the courage and will to follow the Lord’s example and our Church’s call.
Pax
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture used is “Jesus at the Brow of the Hill in Nazareth” by James Tissot, 1886-96.
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Letters of St. Paul”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p.342.
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