First Reading
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.

In his native place, the people took offense at Jesus. This is not surprising. Someone who was well known, perhaps even as a very good person, simply cannot come to his own area and claim to be God or to have supernatural powers. We live this same way today, far too often. We don’t hear the truth from people who are close to us. We don’t want to hear it and they don’t want to say it. We are much more comfortable in relationships that stay in normal limits.

Jesus is always breaking out of the normal limits. He tells us to forgive our enemies. We are so used to that now that we can hear it without flinching—and not do it. He tells us that if someone strikes us, we are to offer the other cheek. Again we are able to hear that advice, know it is from Jesus—and never follow it.

The first reading today is from the Prophet Ezekiel. He was sent to tell people the truth—and they did not want to hear it. None of us really likes the truth when it tells us bad things about ourselves. It is really difficult to accept the truth as a source of healing. Of course, if someone is telling lies about us, that is a totally different thing.

We are children of our ancestors and so we should never be surprised that we are rebellious, that we don’t like the truth, that we follow God when it is easy, that we don’t want to suffer, etc. This is part of our human condition.

God invites us to live in another way. We are invited to embrace the truth, to learn to love our enemies, to find ways to serve the poor, etc. It is an invitation—and He tells us that it will bring us incredible life. We are not sure that we want to pray that price for incredible life. Even Divine Life.

The Second Letter to the Corinthians gives us an example in the Holy Apostle Paul: I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Of course, if we read right before this, we find Paul struggling to accept his own weaknesses. There is no way to follow the Lord without coming to the truth. There is no way to accept the truth about ourselves without suffering. There is only one way to follow Jesus. That way is the way of the Cross.

Jesus, Lord, teach us your way.