July 5, 14th Sunday in Ordinary time
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.
Jesus’ experience of rejection by his countrymen would foreshadow the events that would take place in Jerusalem at the end of his ministry. Jesus would experience betrayal by one apostle after another. He would be mocked by his own people. There are times I feel the same way. It seems like is constant rejection and criticism. Some local pastors have a hard time understanding the way I do ministry–they have their large salaries and benefits, and here I stand with the opposite set of values; I do not play by the rules of the system at times, and so I am criticized and condemned. I am tired right now. I feel like rich and poor alike have come knocking, all wanting something, and I am simply warned down. I am resting the next couple of days recharging my batteries, am beginning to get my strength back, and so will enter the fight once again ready to go. It is through the Holy Eucharist that we participate in the saving death and glorious resurrection of Jesus. It is through the grace of the Eucharist that I get the grace to keep my head up and keep on going.
I spent day reading, and went and saw Food, Inc. I thought alot as I saw them bring the workers in how dehumanizing they must feel–killing animals, being paid subsistence wages, day in and day out. I thought of how dehumanizing our industrial complex is–it is all about money for the few, treating people like they are nothing. We all play into that, we all participate in the dehumanizing of people. I am becoming more and more conscious of that in the food I eat. We live in a world that is really cruel, and we walk past the cruelty without seeing it. I am going to try to keep my eyes more open and try to be more attune to my actions in all things. Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
