Infant Jesus Parish Morley
Under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Friars
Under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Friars
Mark`s gospel which we`re reading this year is a refreshingly direct – no holds barred – account of the ministry , death and resurrection of Jesus . Unlike perhaps the other two synoptics Mark tells it like it is.
The gospel incident today back in Jesus` home town of Nazareth, grows out of the earlier readings : Ezechiel meeting with a rebellious audience when he prophesied to the people and St. Paul admitting that he had a `thorn in the flesh` which brought home to him his innate weakness.
Mark`s account will end with a crucified savior who of course rises from the dead. The rejection by his neighbours in Nazareth is a foretaste of the final rejection in Jerusalem.
If Mark was writing for the Christians of Rome who were undergoing persecution, then this experience of Jesus would serve to encourage them. And of course it ought to encourage us also as we hear it proclaimed to us today.
When Jesus meets with this obstinacy from his own people he makes the famous remark: `A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house.` This reflects the `tall poppy syndrome` well known in Australia and many other countries. Such a reaction has a lot to do with the deadly sin of envy. We don’t like to admit that someone else is cleverer than ourselves , so if that person gets something wrong, we capitalize on it as say ` Well, I knew they weren’t all they were cracked up to be.`
I mentioned that Mark tells it like it is. He tells us that Jesus was not able to do any miracle there – wit the exception of curing a few sick people . Luke in his gospel is uncomfortable with this statement so he omits it. Yet Luke does tell us that the people of Nazareth challenged Jesus to do something spectacular .But this is not how God works. God will not work a miracle to overcome the pride and obstinacy of unbelievers if a little humility would bring about the same result.
The point of all this is an amazing one – the outcome of our prayers depends, not on the almighty power of God, but on the level of faith and confidence with which we approach God.
What other lesson can we learn from this gospel story?
We heard it already in the 2nd reading: ` My grace is enough for you, my power is at its best in weakness`.
So in addition to a strong faith, admission of our human weakness can influence the heart of God. And what I have said here leads straight to the final point. The people of Nazareth Jesus` home town, made the fatal mistake of not seeing God at work in an ordinary carpenter who had lived next door to them for perhaps 30 years. The Lord doesn`t speak through people like that, we think, it must be someone who blows in from the ivy league universities.
St. Therese of Lisieux taught us that we become saints by doing the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well. And the Welsh-English metaphysical poet George Herbert spoke about `Heaven in Ordinarie`. In other words, God is right under our noses but we keep on looking into the middle distance – and of course we miss him.
Too many people are on the lookout for spiritual fireworks which only blind them to real life. They are like the hysterical teenagers at Burswood who get carried away by entertainers and pop stars. They will find it difficult to return to school on Monday morning – or are they still on holiday?
The Indian writer Roy made the same point in her novel `The God of Small Things`. Growth in our Christian life depends on our ability to recognize God more and more in the ordinary things of daily life.
Tadgh Tierney odc