Homily (Reflection) for the Fourteenth
Sunday of the Year (B) (08th July, 2018) on the Gospel
Ezek 2:2-5;
Ps 122 (R. V. 2);2Cor 12:7-10;
Mk
6:1-6.
One day, two women, Mary and Ann, met
along the road. Mary was coming from the direction of the church while Ann was
going towards the direction. This is part of their conversation:
Ann:
Mary,
are you coming from the church?
Mary: Yes, my
dear.
Ann: Do you
know whether the priest is still at the confessional?
Mary: [She
hummed] No, the priest has left but the son of Okeke was still there when I
left the church.
One might ask, ‘Who was Okeke’s son at the confessional?’ This incidence took
place when the white missionaries were still many doing missionary works in Nigeria.
Although the pioneer indigenous Catholic priests had began to emerge, but the
people were still very sceptical about them. The son of Okeke was one of those
early Nigerian Catholic priests. Many found it very difficult to accept them as
priests.
Topic: The problem of origin.
We read how Jesus visited his hometown
in today’s gospel,
With the coming of the Sabbath he began
teaching in the synagogue, and most of them were astonished when they heard
him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has
been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? (Mk 6:2, TNJB).
Although the people were overwhelmed but there was a serious
obstacle for them – Jesus was seen as one of them, cf. Matt 1:1-25; Rom 1:3-4. Hence, even in their astonishment they
queried, “‘Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and
Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took
offence at him” (Mk 6:3). It is clear
that the problem was not with what was said and done but with who said and did them.
Jesus told us in the gospel, “He who receives you receives
me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me” (Matt 10:40). In the same vein, “He who hears you hears me, and he
who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk 10:16). And in the book of Genesis chapter 18 Abraham welcomed the
angels unknowingly, cf. Heb 13:2. And
many God’s choicest blessings followed.
On the other hand, the Nazarenes rejected Jesus, their
brother, their friend (cf. Jn 15: 13,
15; Lk 12:4), and their God, (cf. Jn
13:14). And
Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are
not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and
their own house.’ And he could do no
deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and
cured them (Mk 6:4-5).
Jesus “... descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom 1:3). And as such, the Jews ought
to know Him better than the rest of humans. Although they had waited for the
coming of the messiah for a very long time before the coming of Jesus Christ
but they failed to recognize and accept Him because they expected and many are
still expecting a saviour nobody would know his background, cf. Jn 7:27. We still pray for the Jews to
recognise Jesus as the long-awaited saviour. On the other hand, they pray and
wait for the coming of a saviour whose background would not be known.
It is very easy for one to condemn the Nazarenes who
rejected Jesus in today’s gospel and the people who failed to accept their
brother (the son of Okeke) as a priest. But are we different? Many towns,
families, individuals, etc are still very backward in a lot of areas despite
the fact that they have great men and women with ability and willingness to
transform them. Sometimes these people are not regarded as anything in their
hometowns, villages, families, etc. And just like what happened at Nazareth,
many who could have brought transformation do little or nothing.
Let us conclude with another story,
“An old man is sitting on his
porch, when suddenly someone drives up in a jeep, yelling, ‘Quick! Get into my
jeep! The dam just burst, and this whole place is going to be flooded!’
“The old man says, ‘Naw, you just
go ahead. The good Lord will take care of me!’
“Now someone paddles by his window
in a canoe and says, ‘Quick! Get into my canoe! The water is going to keep
rising!’
“The old man says, ‘Naw, you just
go on ahead. The good Lord will take care of me!’
“The water keeps rising. The old
man drowns. The old man finds himself before the Lord in Heaven. The old man
says, ‘How could you let me drown! [Sic] I trusted you!’
“The Lord says, ‘Hey, I tried. I
sent a jeep and a canoe for you!’” (Thomas, T. (2010). Spice up your homilies. Mumbai:
St Pauls, pp. 105-106).
On our own part, just like the Jews, saviours have been sent to us
several times. How well did we receive them? There is no gain saying that many
of these saviours were rejected and some were even dishonoured because they
were “well-known” to those they were sent. Even those people that are not
regarded as anything, are among the saviours sent to us. It is left for us to either
accept or reject those saviours sent to us because we think we know them very
well and also either carry out our duties as saviours to others as well or
leave them.
Bible Reading: Matt 10:40-42; 25: 31-46; Jn 7:25-31, 40-52; Acts
13:13-41.
Thought for today:
How often have you disregarded others because of their background?
Let us pray: Jesus Christ, our Lord, by the rejection you
suffered in the hands of your brothers and sisters, help us never to look down
on anybody because of his or her background. May we see you and receive you in
all we meet today and all the days of our lives – Amen.
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