Homilies & Reflections
14th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B By Rev. Fr. Lucas Binnah Junior
1st Reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5 /Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123:1-2a.2bc.3-4 (R. 2ef) 2nd Reading: II Corinthians 12:7-10 /Gospel Acclamation: Luke 4:18 /Gospel: Mark 6:1-6
Theme: Take Nothing For Granted
Has a relative or close friend taken you for granted? Have your good intentions and actions been received with indifference? Have people looked down on you and treated you with hate and contempt because they are very familiar with your background? If the answer to these questions is yes, then, know that the same thing happened and still happens to God too! Lest we forget, have you yourself taken others for granted too? How can we deal with such situations? How did God, in the person of Jesus, handle the contempt cases in his life and ministry? Today’s readings afford us great opportunities to learn the causes and consequences of taking people for granted, and how we can allow the Scriptures to help us resolve such cases for a mature Christian living.
In the first place, there is nothing wrong per se when one is familiar with people and things. To be familiar with somebody or something is about relationship and friendship which may even result in intimacy and appreciation. In fact, we cannot avoid knowing the family, neighbours, friends and things we see every day. They are the ones with which we have daily acquaintance. Government is expected to be familiar with the existential conditions of the citizenry so as to formulate and implement policies that can help them. As shepherds, the Pope, bishops and priests are obliged to be very familiar with their pastoral duties and the people for whom God has appointed them. Students are required to be very familiar with their books and theories taught by teachers. This helps them to have a thorough knowledge and good understanding of what they study. On the other hand, teachers who are not familiar with their students cannot effectively impart knowledge to them. Again, familiarity with our natural environment is supposed to help us appreciate the beauty of creation, and not to destroy it. What makes familiarity a problem is when we replace respect with arrogance, value with indifference and common sense with false judgment – a situation which not only breeds contempt, but blocks blessings and stifles concord.
In today’s Gospel we are presented with a classic example of the popular dictum, familiarity breeds contempt. Jesus’ countryfolks simply looked down on him. They were so familiar with his background, that, they identified him with commoners not royals! They saw Jesus as a poor, inferior and mere local village carpenter, a ‘small boy,’ so to speak! They treated him with the gravest contempt as they scorned his family background, and they took offence at him. Yet, little did they know that the so-called ‘small boy’ standing in their midst, was the Lord God himself. In fact, we see a similar picture in the first reading. In that pericope, God sets Ezekiel on a very difficult path – the vocation of a prophet – to tell Israel that they are rebels, a rebellious nation! Particularly, God says: “Son of man, I send you to the sons of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day” (Ez. 2:3). Israel had seen with their eyes the wonderful salvific acts of God in their lives as God’s Elect and as a nation. God raised a great king like David for them. Again, God delivered them from the hands of their enemies and fought many spiritual and physical battles for them. Even in the desert, when hunger and thirst gnawed at them, he provided manna, quails, and refreshing water from the rock (cf. Ex. 16 and 17). Even so, they did not appreciate God but took him for granted, rebelled against him. We become rebels when we take others for granted.
To rebel simply means to defy authority, social conventions and accepted moral codes. It means revolting against the law of God and nonconformity to his statutes. Contextually, it also means treating others without deserved respect, honour and dignity. For these actions of Israel, God decided to leave them to their fate. Jesus takes a similar action in the Gospel, where he was unable to do mighty things in his hometown because they took him for granted. Not happy with their attitude, he made a statement with absolute profundity: “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house” (Mk. 6:4).
Beloved in Christ, we should never ever take any person or thing for granted – God, ourselves, our lives, families, wives, husbands, children, employees, employers, teachers, students, friends, the natural environment, country and the world! Not even our close aids should be taken for granted, let alone our opponents! When we underrate others, it is a sign of rudeness, arrogance and a blatant disregard of the potentials embedded in them. This habit has dire consequences on our relationships and interrelatedness. Environmental degradation has brought disasters on us. Progress has been impeded, and channels of blessing, support and charitable works obstructed. Our miracles and breakthroughs have also been delayed or blocked. Those in the position to offer help may not favour us when we treat them with contempt. This explains why Jesus Christ could not do mighty works in Nazareth, except laying his hands on a few sick persons to heal them.
Once upon a time, a teacher out of frustration spitefully passed a comment about her students. She said “those students were like tadpoles when they came to kindergarten. Today, they think they are big people.” Of course, lying latent in every tadpole is the potency to become a mighty frog, and it seems the teacher forgot about this. Many a time, when we miss or lose people, that is, in their temporal or permanent absence, then the truth dawns on us about their worth and contributions in our lives. We are so close to parents, siblings and friends that we fail to see their value or worth until they are no more. Many have lost the chance to experience real goodness and true friendships because they dismiss people with the wave of the hand. Just look at the rate of divorce. It raises the eyebrows! No longer do we find time to engage those who are closest to us in a very positive way. Little no wonder it is often said that we hurt those whom we love most.
So, what do we do when treated with contempt? For Jesus, he does not focus too much of his attention on people who do not believe in him or look down on him. He never loses his focus! He does not waste his time in such negative environments. However, he never abandons them completely, but shows them love, prays for, forgives and heals them. Notwithstanding the extent of our human frailties, St. Paul in the second reading assures us that moments of weakness, those things which harass us, the burdens which bog us down, the great challenges we face in our lives and the ‘thorns in our flesh,’ are opportunities to see God’s power. Particularly, he says: “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it should leave; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (II Cor. 12:8-9). Thus, the power of God is most often manifested in weakness. If we become aware that we have considered others as inferior, and perhaps, have hated them, and are ready to change positively, the grace of God will be sufficient for us. When we recognise and accept this, it will give us the serenity, patience and peace we need in life. Like the penitent Psalmist, we need to cry out to God thus: “Our eyes are on the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy” (Cf. Ps. 123:2ff). Motivated by this, let us seek God’s face concerning our attitudes towards one another and life. As we fix our eyes on the Lord, he will illumine the darkness of our lives and redeem us if we surrender. Happy Sunday and may God bless us! Remember: #Take-Nothing-For-Granted#