Year B

- 14th Sunday in ordinary time

A prophet is despised in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred.

Mark 6:1-6

1 And going out from there, he went into his own country; and his disciples followed him.
2 And when the sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were in admiration at his doctrine, saying: How came this man by all these things? and what wisdom is this that is given to him, and such mighty works as are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not also his sisters here with us? And they were scandalized in regard of him.
4 And Jesus said to them: A prophet is despised in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred.
5 And he could not do any miracles there, only that he cured a few that were sick, laying his hands upon them.
6 And he wondered because of their unbelief, and he went through the villages round about teaching.

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

14th Sunday in ordinary time - A prophet is despised in his own country, and in his own house, and among his own kindred.

It was very disconcerting for me to see how many people would marvel temporarily about my miracles, about the words of wisdom they listened to and how even then they would not realize that God was doing wonders among them. All the prophets demonstrated that they were bringing a divine message and they deserved to be listened to, however they all perished because of the hypocrisy of those who heard them with doubts and contempt, they sinned by underestimating the gift of God, together with those who didn’t listen to me and don’t even listen now but reject my Word.

Who can have words like God, who can unite power to his word the way God does, who can speak perfectly without error, expressing himself directly from Wisdom, the way God does? There is only one who has been able to do that, and He is the same Word of God, He who is the Incarnate Word, the Wisdom of God that has come to the earth, Jesus, your friend, your heavenly doctor, the true way, the truth and the life.

How difficult it was for me to convince the humanity that listened to me, even demonstrating my power, so that they would see that the Holy Scriptures were being fulfilled before their eyes, many were called, but few were chosen.

Many expected the Messiah, but few recognized Him when he came, many sought Him, but few found Him, and even after finding Him and listening to His testimony, they rejected His teachings and preferred to put Him aside. For this reason, their hearts were filled with jealousy and evil, beginning with those who knew me since my childhood and could not accept what their eyes were seeing, those who studied the law of Moses and had been filled with human precepts that had nothing to do with the divine teachings. Finding something new, something unconventional, those people rejected me totally, they despised the gift that God had sent them and they closed their eyes so that they would not see the Light that descended from above.

For many souls who look for God, it is very difficult to recognize the spiritual encounter that I have with each one, many think, “I am not worthy to receive the Lord”, then, closed in their almost noble concepts, they don’t realize about my Presence, they reject the inspirations of my Holy Spirit, they despise the opportunities to do good, without knowing that I am providing them with ways to get close to Me. Eventually they become cold in the faith, they come to the point of even forgetting that I am really Present in the Church, just as I promised; doubts run through their minds, especially about my Sacramental Presence.

Many Christians ask themselves, who is this, of flesh and blood, who wears a robe, who is claiming to consecrate bread and wine and brings Jesus to the altar, how is it, that a man has the power to forgive sins and unite me to God? Well, these are doing exactly the same they did to me in my own land; they are despising me in those that I have anointed with my Divine Word, which is capable of doing anything. Those who reject my priests are rejecting Me, those who don’t open their spiritual ears because they are bound to their material world, are missing out on the gift that God is offering for the healing of all their evils.

If there was not faith before my corporal Presence here on earth, it is more difficult to believe in me now, when minds are saturating themselves daily with the rubbish of the world, this is why I have destined throughout all generations faithful instruments to my Word who are the means of reaching out to those who are about to be lost forever. Blessed are those who believe in me without seeing, those who without experiencing my miracles have faith, because they recognize the dignity of my Person and the unique value of my Word.

I have many blessings in store for those who have faith in me. My Peace and my Grace flow into their lives like rivers of Heavenly Light, their joy is continuous and secure, because they are walking firmly on my way.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

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The passage indicates that the people were familiar with Jesus' doings: “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given Him? What mighty deeds are wrought by His hands.” This much astonishes them. Harder to swallow is the fact that the man doing these things is one of them. “Is He not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” The people know this man, and that familiarity seems to breed contempt. It seems difficult for them to grasp that Jesus could be some kind of great prophet sent by God, much less the divine Son of God. In the end, Jesus could do few mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. Perhaps we are not always so different from those people in the synagogue. There are still those who find it hard to accept that a carpenter from Nazareth could possibly be the Son of God and Savior of the world. We live in a world of advanced science, which is often offended by the idea of the miraculous. Attempts are made to explain away the miracles of Jesus. In the end, faith suffers. For, example, the feeding of the 5,000 had nothing to do with Jesus multiplying loaves and fish. It had more to do with people being inspired by His teaching sharing what they had with one another. Or how about walking on water? Jesus did not really do that. The lake was actually frozen, as a contemporary theory happens to go. Perhaps these explanations may seem to help make Jesus more familiar and acceptable to us. We can now see Jesus as one of us. He is a great teacher and a good man, but He is simply one of us. But, if Jesus did not do those great deeds that the Gospels record, then He is not our Redeemer and Savior either. Our redemption was the work of one who was both true God and true man. Atonement for our sins could only be made by one who was true God and true man. The Da Vinci Code was written to convince us that Jesus was nothing more than a mere man. Every miracle recorded in the Gospels is meant to help us believe that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God. So much effort is expended on keeping God out of the public arena, out of the hearts and minds of men. We can not erase the fact that, in the Incarnation, God entered the public arena for our salvation. This is what the Apostles preached and the evangelists recorded. This is what the Church proclaims. In the words of C.S. Lewis, A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come away with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Fr. Grankauskas is parochial vicar at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish in Fairfax. (This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)