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05 Jul 2009 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

A friend of mine told me he wasn’t going to his high- school reunion. “Why not?” I asked. “Back then everybody thought I was a loser. I’ve put together a very happy and satisfying life where people respect me, and I don’t want to return to being the butt of their jokes.” In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus returns to his hometown to proclaim the message that’s begun to be well received far and wide. But the hometown folks can’t get past their preconceived notions of Jesus. “Hey, we know all there is to know about this guy. Who does he think he is?” Because of their shortsightedness, they missed out on the Good News that Jesus embodies. Sometimes families pull this same trick on one another. We lock one of our family members into a role he or she played long ago, and we lack the ability to welcome all that he or she might have become. This is not only a disservice to the person who is locked in, but to everyone, because then we miss out on the good news of the gifts they have to offer. There was more to Jesus than met the eye. There’s more to each of us than meets the eye. Look at those around you with fresh and expectant eyes. Be ready to be surprised.

Authors Tom McGrath

good news Jesus returns to hometown families

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The inner word

08 Jul 2018 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The folks in Jesus’ hometown give him a hard time. They are offended because one so familiar to them presumes to teach such astonishing things. How do I feel when I have to preach a hard word? When church teaching goes against public opinion, where do I stand? What goes through my mind when I see people I know and like in the congregation and I expect they will take offense at some things I need to say?

Jesus returns to hometown

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Exploring the word

08 Jul 2018 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Sometimes we get the impression that Jesus is plain unstoppable. Angels wait on him in the desert. Wind and sea obey him. He walks on water when it suits him. Demons cut and run at his command. He can invite 5,000 friends over and not worry about having enough food. He preaches the Sermon on the Mount without note cards. To Jesus, even death is just another door to pass through on the way to bigger and better life. And until he is good and ready to open that door, no mob can lay hands on him. He just calmly walks through them and is on his way. Jesus seems to be in charge every step of the way, from the choosing of his first followers to the surrender of his will when his hour finally arrives. Nobody outwits him, and no secret is hidden from him. So is there anything Jesus can’t do? You betcha. Jesus can’t overcome the absence of faith. It would be contrary to the divine gift of humanity’s free will for Jesus to force wholeness on anyone. Jesus can break the laws of physics and biology like bread sticks, and even a select number of Torah regulations like those governing the Sabbath and uncleanness, if he so chooses. But he can’t do a workaround when it comes to the matter of faith. If you and I don’t trust him, then that’s that. The prophet and the Spirit The gift of prophecy is a fine thing to receive. Spirit enters into a man or a woman and all heaven breaks loose in oracles and signs and marvelous happenings. Also, some less than marvelous episodes like drought and famine and leprosy and destruction—the prophetic spirit has to work both sides of the street. But Ezekiel soon learns what every prophet must: that all the Spirit in the world is not necessarily going to soften the hardened heart. Breaking open that heart is not the prophet’s job, in the end. Whether the people heed or resist, the proclamation must be delivered and the possibility of redemption extended. End of responsibility, insofar as the prophet is concerned. And if Nineveh won’t answer the door, that’s their problem. But sometimes, unexpectedly and rather spectacularly, they will. Think Zacchaeus, the good thief, Saint Paul, and Saint Augustine, for starters. Sometimes all it takes to unlock the human heart is to find the right key. So God remains the God of Second Chances. Cain gets a mark that preserves his life. Abraham is forgiven his lies and David his adultery and murderous cover-up. After sin, life goes on because it’s only in the midst of life that there’s hope of redemption. It’s up to the individual sinner whether that second chance is going to be a fresh start or a reprise. Taking offense Many people resist change because it comes with a price tag attached. Sometimes the cost is merely pride, but it can also include the surrendering of habits, the ditching of companions, dissolving the unequal yoke, forking over money, or forgiving your enemies. When Jesus came and preached in his hometown, the thing required of his friends and neighbors was to let go of envy. One of their own had surpassed them, and people generally don’t take kindly to that sort of thing. It’s always easier for us to put others down than to look up to them. So Jesus, a hero and healer everywhere he went, was viewed as a show-off and charlatan in Nazareth. He still managed to cure a few sick folk, because the sick can’t afford to snub an opportunity for hope and help. But those without obvious needs did not extend their faith to him, or even offer him the benefit of the doubt. Nazareth, ironically, remains the low point in Jesus’ ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem. They knew him too well to see who he was. Maybe Paul had the right idea not setting up his preaching tent in Tarsus, and Peter was wise not to establish post-Easter headquarters back in Capernaum. Soliciting the faith of a stranger is tough enough. Best leave the conversion of your family to a suitable out-of-towner. Wrestling down the contradictions After Nazareth, if not before, Jesus had to embrace the reality of certain limitations. Not everyone who listened to him would hear. Not everyone who shouted Hosanna would be around in a week. Even one of the twelve apostles would betray him in time. No one gets around the freedom of humanity to say no—not even if you’re the Son of God. Paul, too, had to wrestle with the incongruities, from within and without. He knew he wasn’t the Christian he wanted to be, and he knew his human weakness was an obstacle at times. But he, mystic that he was, gained the understanding that his very weakness could become a tool placed in God’s hands. God can use anything—brokenness, sinfulness, and failure—if faithfully surrendered to divine purposes. Once again, it’s a matter of free will. Are we willing to give over our miserable failings to God as well, or just our righteousness? Applying the Word Faith first It’s curious that the stuff of least value to us is usually what we cling to most possessively: the secret of our pettiness, our arrogance, and the rottenness at the center of our hearts. The angel of Satan that pummels us inside and out, by any other name, is a creature telling us unwelcome truths about ourselves. Why not listen, admit who we are, and hand over that person—envy, orneriness, and all—to the God who sees all anyway? We have nothing to gain from hiding our true selves away, and so much potential transformation ahead by traveling honestly. It takes more trust in God to admit we are sinners than to insist we are the good guys. But only the one who comes forward for the healing gets it. Related scripture links Jesus does marvels: Mark 1:13, 21-28; 4:35-41; 6:34-44, 45-52; Matt. 5:1-7:29; Luke 4:29-30 The prophet’s responsibility: Ezek. 3:17-21 Nineveh: See the Book of Jonah Great turnarounds: Luke 19:1-10; 23:39-43; Acts 9:1-19 Women prophets: Exod. 15:20-21; Judg. 4:1-5:31; 2 Kings 22:8-20; Isa. 8:3; Luke 2:36-38; Acts 21:8-9 Catechism links Omnipotence: CCC 268-274; 1508 Sickness and faith: CCC 1500-1510

Authors Alice Camille

absence of faith second chances Change Jesus returns to hometown

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In other words

08 Jul 2018 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?” They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further. Jesus told them, “A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child.” Jesus wasn’t able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that’s all. He couldn’t get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching (from Mark 6). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

Jesus returns to hometown

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