(Chapter 2:2-5)
The people of Israel revered the prophets but did not always treat them well. That was still true in the time of Jesus as well and it is true today. Prophets are often not honored by their own people in their own times. It is hard to be a prophet at any time. It is a dangerous calling.
Here the great prophet Ezekiel has a visit from God: “As the Lord spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. … 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.”
Who are the prophets in our midst today? They are not necessarily those on the front pages or the stars of social media, but they are here, sent by God to bring peace and justice and love for all. Those especially who speak on behalf of the poor and troubled are challenging us with a call from the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 123:1-2a,2b,3-4)
“Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy” (verse 2cd). God’s mercy is the most powerful force in the universe. We need only ask for it and accept it.
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
(Chapter 12:7-10)
Paul, this great traveling apostle of Jesus, had all sorts of physical as well as spiritual and emotional problems. He begs the Lord that this “thorn in the flesh” be taken away from him. But God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul responds, “I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” Then he says, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
It seems at first like a contradiction, strength coming in the midst of weakness. But God’s strength can and often does come in the times of our greatest feelings of weakness, when we do not know the right thing to do or when we have seemed to fail repeatedly. Have you ever experienced a power that came to you in a difficult or challenging moment? Suddenly, you knew the right way to go, the best decision to make, the healing that you needed to share, and you did it or said it. You did not know that you had it in you, but the Spirit was there.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
(Chapter 6:1-6)
Jesus has been traveling all over Israel, but here he comes to “his native place” or, as we might say, his hometown. At first, people seem impressed. “When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!” Then the tone changes. The people see him as a home boy who has gotten too big for his own good: “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 him? And they took offense at him.”
Jesus responds, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” Imagine that! This great preacher and healer is challenged, not because what he is saying is wrong but because of his origin and family. And, because of this harsh rejection, “he was not able to perform any mighty deeds there.” Amazing! The very presence of God in their midst and their rejection takes away his power to do “mighty deeds.” Do you think that even today people are blocking the power of God to heal, to love, to bring justice and peace to all because of our inability to believe, to accept the gifts that Jesus has for us? It happened then in the very presence of the Son of God, and it can happen now when we shun the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.