Is He Not The Carpenter?
Introduction
In the mind of God’s people, God was their defender; by creating an army through conscription, David was as if usurping the power of God, taking upon himself what was properly the task of God himself.
A man or woman like us from down the street, whose parents we know, how dare he or she speak God’s word to us – if it is God’s word! Jesus, the town carpenter whom everyone knew, how could he work miracles and where did he get this strange message? The Church with all its faults and the priest who is not any better than we are, how dare they speak to us in the name of God? God speaks through ordinary people. God’s word and message are stronger than the weak messengers he sends to speak his prophetic word. The people of Nazareth did not accept Jesus. Do we accept those who speak out for what is right and good?
1 Reading: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him, “Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the people, that I may know their number.” Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered: in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service; in Judah, five hundred thousand. Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people, and said to the LORD: “I have sinned grievously in what I have done. But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant, for I have been very foolish.” When David rose in the morning, the LORD had spoken to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I offer you three alternatives; choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.'” Gad then went to David to inform him. He asked: “Do you want a three years’ famine to come upon your land, or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you, or to have a three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me.” David answered Gad: “I am in very serious difficulty. Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful; but let me not fall by the hand of man.” Thus David chose the pestilence. Now it was the time of the wheat harvest when the plague broke out among the people. The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel from morning until the time appointed, and seventy thousands of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died. But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD regretted the calamity and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people, “Enough now! Stay your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking the people, he said to the LORD: “It is I who have sinned; it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done? Punish me and my kindred.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R. (see 5c) Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile. R.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin. R.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him. R.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round. R.
Alleluia John 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mark 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. 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 Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Commentary
Today we see how the Lord gets angry with David for conducting a census of his people that includes counting the number of able-bodied men who can serve as soldiers. We may ask, “What’s wrong with taking a census?” Nothing, in and of itself. God is opposed to this census because it reflects the belief that the strength of David’s kingdom is due to its own size, not the result of God’s favour. Human forces are not the reason for Israelite success. The Israelites triumph because God has strengthened his people. When they rely on their own strength, they meet defeat.
In today’s Gospel we see how Jesus’ contemporaries in his home region were unable to accept him. His family and his occupation were well known. Prophets are not found among hometown boys! But the truth is that many valuable insights into our character and conduct come from people who are close to us.
I have personal experience of this. On one occasion I received a valuable insight from some young seminarians who were part of my charge. They had to perform some ministry in a neighbouring city. In granting them permission to travel, I sternly insisted that they be back in the seminary for evening prayer. On their way back home, running late, they saw an elderly man on the road who was struggling to change a tire. They passed him but got home on time. However, they felt that they had failed in a serious responsibility. They brought the case to my attention and in doing so taught me a very valuable lesson. Discipline is not the only value, nor, in this case, was it the principal one.
Blessing
We have heard Jesus: let his word not fall on deaf ears. And may we not keep it for ourselves, but pass it on as a challenge to create together a community in which justice and love rule with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
St Agatha, Virgin and Martyr—Pray for Us!