First Reading
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B – 2009 Ezekiel 2:2-5
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.
Second Reading
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
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.
Gospel Cycle Cycle B
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 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 Prophet Ezekiel in the first reading and the Gospel of Mark both speak of being prophets and what that means practically in one’s life. For the Prophet Ezekiel, it meant that he had to speak to his own people, knowing that they would not listen to him. But he knew that he had to speak because God had spoken to him.
For Jesus in the Gospel, the challenge is that people who know him cannot believe that someone they knew could have this kind of spiritual insight and power. Because they perceive only the human in Jesus, they find it impossible to accept the divine in him. This remains a problem throughout his life.
These two readings challenge us today to perceive the presence of God in one another, to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in one another, to have hearts that are open to one another. We do not expect to fine divinity in one another the way in which divinity was present in our Lord Jesus, nevertheless we know that God is truly present in every other human being and so often we ignore that presence or even deny that present.
Saint Paul, in the second reading, has a very different problem. He is so aware of the divine presence within himself that he must concentrate on his own weaknesses in order to be present to others. He realizes that his incredible spiritual gifts can lead him astray and so focuses on his weaknesses and brokenness.
We can be so clearly aware of the teaching of our Lord Jesus in all of today’s readings. At a practical level these teachings invite us to look for the divine in others and to be aware of the weakness and brokenness in ourselves. When we learn to see the divine in others and the brokenness in ourselves, we are ready to for with others the communion which is the Church, which is the body of Christ.
Let us ask our Lord today to send His Holy Spirit on us so that we may never fear speaking the truth, so that we may always delight in the goodness and divinity of others and that we may plead with the Lord for the healing of our own sinfulness and brokenness. May the Lord grant this to us, His servants.