Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 8, 2018 - 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Ezek 2:2-5; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6]SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2018. FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME [Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6] “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given to 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.” [Mark] Although prophets may be “honored,” they are rarely popular, especially among those who claim personal kinship or acquaintance. The people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth had known Jesus since he was an infant. To them he was the carpenter. As far as they knew, he had received very little formal education beyond what was necessary. The fact that he could read was extraordinary enough. [cf. Luke 4]. But to accept him as a prophet or even more than a prophet was too much. We know that learner in the Gospel According to Mark [Mark 3], his family had tried to “seize” him and thought he was “out of his mind.” The total lack of faith in the village amazed Jesus to the extent that he could do little for them. Ezekiel, in the first scripture for today is warned by God that people are not going to be happy with what he has to say, but at least they will not be able to say they weren’t warned about their rebellious situation! A prophet has to expect resistance, and this resistance can turn to violence. In general, the prophetic task is to hold up the mirror of faith and ask if the onlooker can see him or herself in it. Perhaps we have been in the position of loving someone enough to confront them with their destructive behavior (addictions, abuse, etc.) or even an entire society with their prejudice and injustice toward whole classes of people. Jesus did both, as did the great prophets of the Old Testament. John the Baptist is another example. We may be deterred by what happened to them from acting in a prophetic way, but we cannot deny that it is part of our baptismal commitment. We may think, “Who am I, with all my faults, to challenge others with theirs?” It takes prayer and discernment, but without courageous prophets, we could all destroy ourselves and our society and planet! Pope Francis is showing us a good example of prophetic action. We can look to him for inspiration. AMEN
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