A PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR
Introduction
The author of Hebrews encourages those who had to flee from Jerusalem for the sake of following Jesus. Yes, their trials are hard to bear, but God loves them. He is a Father who corrects and tests his children out of love, that their faith may become more mature through the sufferings and difficulties that are part of life and of our being Christian. Do we too accept this?
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? Do we perceive him also as a prophet without honour?
Opening Prayer
God, our Father without equal, your Son, your living Word, came among us as one of our own, our own flesh and blood. Dispose us to welcome him always and to listen to what he tells us, also when his word upsets and disturbs us. And give us too, the courage to pass on his word to one another, that it may liberate us all and lead us to you as your one people. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading: Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15
Brothers and sisters: In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as his sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a
R. (see 17) The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. R.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him, For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust. R.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him, And his justice toward children’s children among those who keep his covenant. R.
Alleluia: John 10:27
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
One is always hesitant about paraphrasing the Bible, but today’s Gospel suggests an old joke: “What is an expert? Someone who tells us what we know already, but who comes from out of town.” Jesus was much too local to be taken seriously by his neighbours. The result was that he accomplished little among them.
The wise person is attentive to God’s word under any and all circumstances. We may receive excellent insights from someone with whom we share life daily. But above all, let us not reject the message because we don’t accept the messenger.
Hebrews reminds us today that sometimes we are disciplined by God. We are to be particularly concerned that others do not fall from the grace of God, especially if it might be occasioned by our own misdeeds. We must strive for peace with everyone. The customary greeting of Francis of Assisi was pace e bene, “Peace and all good.” For him it was far more than a salutation, it was a reflection of an inner peace that came with a good conscience, of the joy that came with being a reconciler. To bring peace and reconciliation is the work of God. When a beautiful garden becomes defiled by weeds, it loses its attractiveness. We are called to be God’s gardeners, tearing up the weeds that defile our relations with others and with God.
Each day we meet words and actions that have a prophetic ring. We do not want to ignore them. We have no trouble finding fault with others—would that we were as attentive to what we might learn from them! God’s word comes to us in various forms. We reject that word to our own detriment.
Intercessions:
– That our Church may keep listening to the prophets among us, for the Spirit speaks through them, we pray:
– That God’s people may keep listening to the words Jesus speaks in our assemblies as a word spoken to each of us today, we pray:
– That in the silence of the voiceless, God’s people may hear the voice of the Lord crying out for justice and compassion, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, you ask of us to accept with faith your word spoken by your messengers and above all by your living Word, Jesus Christ. Make us truly recognize and welcome the humble coming of your Son in these simple signs of bread and wine. Let his word and that of his prophets take root in us and change us into a community in which prevail the love, the justice and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, loving Father, you let us share in your strength through Jesus, your Son in our midst. Let his word that we have heard come true in our lives and give us the courage to proclaim it without false shame or fear to anyone willing to listen. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord. Amen!
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!