[Catholic Caucus] The Sacred Page: Hard-Hearted and Stiff-Necked: The Readings for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday’s readings draw a comparison between three groups: (1) stiff-necked Israelites in the time of the prophets, (2) the townsfolk of Nazareth in the days of Jesus, and (3) you and I sitting in the pew. The message to us is: repent, and believe the Good News.

1. Our first reading comes from near the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, when that great prophet was receiving his initial call from God:

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.

But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! And whether they heed or resist--for they are a rebellious house--they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

If you read the entire context from which this passage comes, you will find a number of parallels between Moses and Ezekiel and their prophetic commissions. In Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel sees the famous cherubim “chariot” of God, which is probably the reality of God’s presence depicted by the ark of the covenant, to which only Moses had regular access. There is lightning, darkness, clouds and wind—storm phenomena similar to what Moses experienced on Sinai. Then God speaks to Ezekiel from his throne above the cherubim, just as he used to speak to Moses from above the wings of the cherubim on the ark. Ezekiel is a “New Moses.”

Both Moses and Ezekiel are sent to hard-hearted folk. However, in Moses’ day this meant Pharaoh and the Egyptians; for Ezekiel, it is the Israelites themselves who are as hard-hearted as Pharaoh of old. So there is a kind of irony running through Ezekiel 1-3: things have gotten worse over a thousand years of salvation history. Now Ezekiel’s countrymen are just as bad as the Pharaoh of the exodus.

One of the paradoxes of history is that God’s messengers are too often rejected by his own people, and find acceptance among those to whom they were not sent. Why? Pride. Those who know they’ve been “chosen” don’t want to hear a rebuke.

2. The Responsorial Psalm forms a good complement to the first reading. This psalm was probably composed during the Jewish exile to Babylon (c. 597–537 BC) or perhaps in the early post-exilic period, when life continued to be hard for the people of Judah:

To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven --
As the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
with the mockery of the arrogant,
with the contempt of the proud.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

It’s likely that this psalm expresses the feelings of the Judeans who ended up being defeated, captured, and exiled to Babylon, just as Ezekiel had predicted. Living as foreigners in a strange land, they were treated with contempt by their conquerors: “we are more than sated with contempt … with the mockery of the arrogant … the contempt of the proud.” In the exile, God’s people learned humility, which in the bigger picture is a net gain. With the words of this psalm, we repent of our personal and corporate pride that keeps us from hearing God’s word.

3. In this time of the Church year, the second reading is moving in sequence through some of Paul’s epistles. Although this selection from 2 Corinthians wasn’t necessarily chosen to fit the Gospel and the first reading, there is a happy coincidence of theme:

Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul reveals why God sometimes allows “bad things” in our lives—sickness, unemployment, poverty, failure, etc.—even though we pray that they be removed. God does this to teach us to depend on him, to let his life live through us. Otherwise, content with what we can do with our natural powers, we never learn to live a truly supernatural life.

Not all prayers are answered in the affirmative, not even all prayers of great saints, like the Apostle Paul himself. He prayed, and God said, No. That’s a healthy reminder when we think our own prayers go unheard, or that they are not answered because we aren’t holy enough yet.

The “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints” St. Paul mentions are a succinct synopsis of the curses of the Old Covenant (cf. Lev 26; Deut 28:15-28) that were eventually experienced by Judah (see the psalm) because they wouldn’t listen to the prophets like Ezekiel (see the first reading). So why is Paul still experiencing “covenant curses,” as it were, even though he has entered into the New Covenant? Life in the New Covenant does not necessarily avoid or remove the troubles in this world that result from sin, but the grace of God in the New Covenant radically changes their meaning and effect for those in Christ. No longer are these hardships punishments, but opportunities to live a radically different life, allowing the “power of Christ to dwell in us,” and actually becoming more intimate with God.

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 Joses 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 honor 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.

The townspeople of Nazareth are hard-hearted and unbelieving, like the Judeans of Ezekiel’s day. At stake is pride—they don’t want to admit that a humble home-town boy has anything to teach them. Their lack of faith impedes Christ’s work. Is this because God is not omnipotent? No, but he has chosen to make his healing power contingent on our faith. Faith is the means by which we accept the gift of God. God may give, but we have to accept. The people of Nazareth would not accept the gift of God among them.

The people of Nazareth missed the experience of the power of God, because they were overly familiar with Jesus and expected very little of him. The same can be true of us: over familiarity with Jesus, with the teaching of Scripture, with the Eucharist and the sacraments, can lead to a ho-hum attitude in which we no longer expect God’s power to “show up” in our lives. If we are experiencing “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints” right now, let’s give thanks to God for them, because it is through these things that God often wakes us up out of the stupor we’ve fallen into. A life of radical holiness is possible for us, today, now, starting with the very Mass when these Scriptures are read. What’s holding us back is that we don’t believe Jesus can do it for us.

Please join Cardinal Burke’s novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’ (Started March 12—Never too late to join!)

Let us pray.

O Virgin Mother of God, we fly to your protection and beg your intercession against the darkness and sin which ever more envelop the world and menace the Church. Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, gave you to us as our mother as He died on the Cross for our salvation. So too, in 1531, when darkness and sin beset us, He sent you, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Tepeyac to lead us to Him Who alone is our light and our salvation.

Through your apparitions on Tepeyac and your abiding presence with us on the miraculous mantle of your messenger, Saint Juan Diego, millions of souls converted to faith in your Divine Son. Through this novena and our consecration to you, we humbly implore your intercession for our daily conversion of life to Him and the conversion of millions more who do not yet believe in Him. In our homes and in our nation, lead us to Him Who alone wins the victory over sin and darkness in us and in the world.

Unite our hearts to your Immaculate Heart so that they may find their true and lasting home in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Ever guide us along the pilgrimage of life to our eternal home with Him. So may our hearts, one with yours, always trust in God's promise of salvation, in His never-failing mercy toward all who turn to Him with a humble and contrite heart. Through this novena and our consecration to you, O Virgin of Guadalupe, lead all souls in America and throughout the world to your Divine Son in Whose name we pray. Amen.

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

First Reading:

From: Ezekiel 2:2-5

The Prophet’s mission
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[2] And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. [3] And he said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. [4] The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.' [5] And whether they ear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them.

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Commentary:

2:1-3:3. The vision by the river Chebar is all about the grandeur and glory of God, who is sovereign over all things; whereas the account given of the call of Ezekiel tells us about the prophet and about the people of Israel, for whom the message is meant. The prophet is described as a son of man, whom the Spirit moves, a prophet among the people; and they are a rebellious people. The account takes the form of an address by the Lord containing a command to pass his word on to the people (2: 1-7) and a symbolic action in which Ezekiel eats the scroll given to him by God (2:8-3:3).

2:1. “Son of man”: this title is used repeatedly in these opening chapters. It occurs later on, too, more than ninety times; but it has special significance here, which is the first time it is used. Because Ezekiel is living in exile in a foreign and therefore unclean country, he cannot be given grand titles. He is an ordinary mortal, one creature among many, on an infinitely lower level than the Lord; one more among his people, like them an exile, a person brought low, but also someone who has hope in his heart. St Gregory the Great explains the title like this: “He is brought up often into heaven and his soul rejoices at great and beautiful mysteries which remain invisible to us. But it is fitting that he be called "son of man" while he contemplates those hidden wonders, so that he will not forget who he is or glory in the splendour that has been revealed to him” ("Homiliae in Ezechielem prophetam", 1, 12, 22).

2:2. “The Spirit set me upon my feet”. In the vision of God’s glory, the word “spirit” has three meanings. It is a natural thing -- a stormy wind, breath, spirit (1:4; cf. 13:11). From this comes the second meaning: "spirit" is an inner, superhuman strength which guides the actions of living creatures and cherubim, deciding when they should move and where they should go (cf. 1:12, 20, 21).

But in the account of the call of Ezekiel, “spirit” has a third meaning: it is life-force, reminiscent of the “breath of life” that God breathed into man at the moment of creation (cf. Gen 2:7); this meaning will be seen more clearly in the vision of the bones brought back to life (cf. 37:5, 6, 8, 10). As a life-force, every time that the spirit affects Ezekiel, it is to ‘‘set him on his feet’’ (cf. 2:1; 3:20), to “lift him up’’ (cf. 3:12, 14, 24), so that he is better able to hear the word of God and to see what is happening in the temple of Jerusalem cf. 8:3; 11:1; 43:5) or in Babylon (cf. 11:24). It is therefore an inner energy that transforms the prophet and helps him to hear or see things that he could not if left on his own, for he is a mere “son of man”.

2:3. Israel is a “nation of rebels” or, as it is put a little further on in the text, a “rebellious house” (2:8). The book defines the people of Israel in this negative way (cf. 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9) because it sums up the sinful history of their forebears and their own hostility towards God. Their rebelliousness involves arrogance towards God, rejection of his commandments, and refusal to listen to what he says. It makes them stubborn: one can even see it in their faces. Time and again Ezekiel tells them that their sin is grave, for they have freely chosen to adopt this attitude. They “will not listen to you”, the Lord says to Ezekiel, “for they are not willing to listen to me” (3:7). Precisely because sin requires a free act of the will, the prophet puts special emphasis on personal responsibility. Each individual will be punished for his or her sins, not for those of their forebears (cf. 18:1 32). Because the people are so rebellious, God wants the prophet to he especially docile: “Do not be rebellious” (2:8). The Lord asks him to listen carefully to the word of God and to accept it joyfully. The gesture of eating the scroll shows what docility requires. Even though the scroll contains “words of lamentation and mourning and woe” (2:10), the prophet will find it “sweet as honey” when he does what he is told.

2:4. “Thus says the Lord God”: this makes it clear that the prophet is not speaking on his own behalf. It is usually termed a “messenger formula” (words a messenger uses to preface his message), and occurs often in other prophetical books, particularly Isaiah and Jeremiah. However, in Ezekiel, where it appears almost 130 times, the name of God is reinforced (“Lord God”), to signal the infinite majesty of the Lord who speaks with full authority. The people’s stubbornness in rejecting God’s word is an act of rebellion, and the docility shown by the prophet is an almost obligatory act of submission. Ezekiel never resists the voice of the Lord, never raises any personal objection or difficulty unlike Isaiah and Jeremiah. On the contrary, knowing that he is passing on a divine message, not inventing one of his own, he must do this bravely, and never flag, even if the people refuse to listen (cf. 2:6-7; 3:11). “True prophets are those who say the words that God has spoken to them; the prophet of God is the one who delivers the words of God to men who cannot or do not deserve to understand God himself” (St Augustine, "Quaestiones in Heptateuchum", 2, 17).

2:5. “They will know that there has been a prophet among them”: a formal confirmation that Ezekiel is indeed a prophet. At a time when there was no king (for he was the prisoner of Nebuchadnezzar) and no temple (for it had been profaned and destroyed) and no social or religious institutions among the Jews, prophets acquired increased status. The prophet was God’s only representative among the people; he was the only one with authority to demand that they listen to his message.

Second Reading:

From: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Visions and Revelations
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[7] And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. [8] Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; [9] but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

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Commentary:

1-10. He continues his apologia by referring to visions and revelations he has received from the Lord. From other letters and from the Acts of the Apostles we know that there were many of these in the course of his life (cf. Acts 9:1-8; 16:9; 18:9f; 22:17-21; 27:23f; 1 Cor 15:8; Gal 1:12); but he refers to only one of them.

The Apostle couches this account in the third person--"a man in Christ"--possibly because he feels embarrassed (vv. 1, 5) to have to reveal these graces God has given him. Therefore, after describing these visions briefly (vv. 1-6), he speaks about the weakness the Lord has allowed him to have, to prevent him from taking pride in these wonderful experiences (vv. 7-10).

"Fourteen years ago": that is, in the period 43-44, possibly during his stay in Tarsus (cf. Acts 9:30), Antioch (Acts 11:25ff; 13:1-3) or Jerusalem (Acts 11:30).

2-4. Although he is able to quote the precise time of the vision, he cannot explain how it happened. It may have been an instance of supernatural contemplation in which his physical senses played no part, which would explain why he does not know whether he was in the body or not. St Thomas Aquinas, with St Augustine, is of the view that St Paul was given a vision of the essence of God, as Moses had been (cf. Ex 33:11; Deut 34:10): "The Apostle's very words indicate this. For he says that 'he heard words that cannot be told, which man may not utter', and such would be words pertaining to the vision of the blessed, which transcends the state of the wayfarer" ("Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 175, a. 3). To help us understand the difficulty St Paul had in explaining himself, we might study what St Catherine of Siena said when God revealed to her some of the mysteries of divine providence: "O eternal Father, fire and depths of love, eternal mercy! O hope! O refuge of sinners, eternal and infinite good! [...] What need have you of your creatures? [...] What more can I say? Shall I act like a baby and say, Ah, ah, ah, for that is all I can say: language cannot express the affection of a soul that infinitely desires you? I seem to be saying what Paul said: 'Words cannot describe, not ear hear, nor eyes see ...what I have seen.' What did you see then? I have seen the mystery of God. But, what is this that I am saying? Not, to be sure, that I have seen them with these lower senses; however, I tell you, my soul, that you have tasted and have seen the very depths of supreme, eternal Providence" ("Dialogue", 10).

"The third heaven": according to some commentators, this simply refers to the situation in which the blessed dwell, that is, the most sublime level of divine contemplation. Others see in it an echo of Jewish traditions which spoke of a first heaven (the atmosphere of the earth), a second (the heaven of the stars) and a third (the dwelling-place of God). In any event, "Paradise" (v. 4) would have the same meaning.

5-6. The Apostle is speaking metaphorically as if there were two people in him--one, who receives supernatural gifts, which he glories in as coming from God; the other, who experiences severe afflictions of different kinds, which he also boasts about because they show forth God's power (cf. 12:9). "In man", St Thomas comments, "two things may be considered--the gift of God, and the human condition. If one glories in some divine gift, as coming from God, that is a good boast, because it is boasting in the Lord [...]. But if one glories in that gift as something coming from oneself, then that is a bad kind of boast" ("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").

7-10. Displaying admirable humility, St Paul now refers to the weakness God allowed him to experience to ensure his supernatural gifts did not make him proud. It is impossible to say what exactly the "thorn in his flesh" was. Some Fathers--St Augustine, for example--and modern commentators think that it was some particularly painful and humiliating physical ailment, possibly the same one as he refers to in Galatians 4:13f, where he also speaks in general terms. Others, like St John Chrysostom, are of the view that he is referring to the pain which continual persecution caused him. Others--from St Gregory the Great onwards--opt for an ascetical interpretation; they say he is referring to temptations to do with conscience; but the supporters of the two other theses argue, for example, that it is unlikely that St Paul would have mentioned anything of that kind, because it could have given his enemies ammunition for further attacks.

St Paul asked God to take this "thorn" away, but the heavenly answer he received is very revealing: God's grace is enough to enable him to cope with this difficulty--which serves to reveal God's power. And so it is that he boasts of and is content with his weaknesses and the persecution he suffers: in these circumstances he is stronger than ever, thanks to God's supernatural help.

When commenting on this passage, St Thomas explains that God sometimes permits certain kinds of evil in order to draw out greater good: for example, in order to protect people from pride--the root of all vices--he sometimes allows his chosen ones to be humiliated by an illness, or a defect, or even by mortal sin, in order that "the person who is humbled in this way might recognize that he cannot stand firm by his own efforts alone. Hence it is said in Romans 8:28, 'We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him'--not of course that God seeks the sin but [the sinner's] turning to him" ("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").

7. "A messenger of Satan", an angel of Satan: this is how he describes the humiliating "thorn". This suggests that the disability could have been seen as an obstacle to his work of evangelization--which the devil, logically, would have been keen to frustrate (cf. 2:11; 11:14f).

8-10. Christians can learn a great deal about the ascetical struggle from these words. They remind us, on the one hand, of the need to ask the Lord to help us when we experience difficulties, and at the same time to be full of trust and to abandon ourselves to God, who knows what is best for us. "The Lord is good", St Jerome teaches, "because he often does not give us what we desire, in order to give us something we would prefer" ("Epist. ad Paulinum").

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).

At the same time this passage teaches us that awareness of our personal shortcomings should lead us to put all our trust in God: "We have to cry out ceaselessly with a strong and humble faith, 'Lord, put not your trust in me. But I, I put my trust in you. ' Then, as we sense in our hearts the love, the compassion, the tenderness of Christ's gaze upon us (for he never abandons us) we shall come to understand the full meaning of those words of St Paul, "virtus in infirmitate perficitur" (2 Cor 12:9). If we have faith in our Lord, in spite of our failings--or rather, with our failings--we shall be faithful to our Father, God; his divine power will shine forth in us, sustaining us in our weakness" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 194).

Gospel Reading:

From: Mark 6:1-6

No Prophet Is Honored In His Own Country
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[1] He (Jesus) went away from there and came to His own country; and His disciples followed Him. [2] And on the Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard Him were astonished saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him? What mighty works are wrought by His hands! [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. [4] And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." [5] And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. [6] And He marvelled because of their unbelief.

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Commentary:

1-3. Jesus is here described by His occupation and by the fact that He is the son of Mary. Does this indicate that St. Joseph is dead already? We do not know, but it is likely. In any event, the description is worth underlining: in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke we are told of the virginal conception of Jesus. St. Mark's Gospel does not deal with our Lord's infancy, but there may be an allusion here to His virginal conception and birth, in His being described as "the son of Mary."

"Joseph, caring for the Child as he had been commanded, made Jesus a craftsman, transmitting his own professional skill to him. So the neighbors of Nazareth will call Jesus both "faber" and "fabri filius": the craftsman and the son of the craftsman" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 55). This message of the Gospel reminds us that our vocation to work is not marginal to God's plans.

"The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God Himself, his Creator, was 'given particular prominence by Jesus Christ'--the Jesus at whom many of His first listeners in Nazareth 'were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him?... Is not this the carpenter?'" (Mark 6:23). For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by His deeds the 'Gospel', the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to Him. Therefore this was also 'the gospel of work', because 'He who proclaimed it was Himself a man of work', a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth (cf. Matthew 13:55). And if we do not find in His words a special command to work--but rather on one occasion a prohibition against too much anxiety about work and life--(Matthew 6:25-34)--at the same time the eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: He belongs to the `working world', He has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said the 'He looks with love upon human work' and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of man's likeness with God, the Creator and Father" (John Paul II, "Laborem Exercens", 26).

St. Mark mentions by name a number of brothers of Jesus, and refers in general to His sisters. But the word "brother" does not necessarily mean son of the same parents. It can also indicate other degrees of relationship--cousins, nephews, etc. Thus in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 and 16 Lot is called the brother of Abraham (translated as "kinsman" in RSV), whereas we know that he was Abraham's nephew, the son of Abraham's brother Haran. The same is true of Laban, who is called the brother of Jacob (Genesis 29:15) although he was his mother's brother (Genesis 29:15); there are other instances: cf. 1 Chronicles 23:21-22, etc. This confusion is due to the poverty of Hebrew and Aramaic language: in the absence of distinct terms, the same word, brother, is used to designate different degrees of relationship.

From other Gospel passages we know that James and Joses, who are mentioned here, were sons of Mary of Clophas (John 19:25). We know less about Judas and Simon: it seems that they are the Apostles Simon the Cananaean (Matthew 10:4) and Judas the son of James (Luke 6:16), the author of the Catholic Epistle, in which he describes himself as "brother" of James. In any event, although James, Simon and Judas are referred to as brothers of Jesus, it is nowhere said they were "sons of Mary"--which would have been the natural thing if they had been our Lord's brothers in the strict sense. Jesus always appears as an only son: to the people of Nazareth, He is "the son of Mary" (Matthew 13:55). When He was dying Jesus entrusted His mother to St. John (cf. John 19:26-27), which shows that Mary had no other children. To this is added the constant belief of the Church, which regards Mary as the ever-virgin: "a perfect virgin before, while, and forever after she gave birth" (Paul IV, "Cum Quorumdam").

5-6. Jesus worked no miracles here: not because He was unable to do so, but as punishment for the unbelief of the townspeople. God wants man to use the grace offered him, so that, by cooperating with grace, he become disposed to receive further graces. As St. Augustine neatly puts it, "He who made you without your own self, will not justify you without yourself" ("Sermon" 169).

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