Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
L-14-il Ħadd matul is-Sena 'B'
Messalin B 410
Reading 1
Ezekiel 2:2-5
As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and
set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man,
I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they
and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day. 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.
L-Ewwel
Lezzjoni
Qari
mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Eżekjel 2, 2-5
F'dak
iż-żmien, daħal fija l-ispirtu u
waqqafni fuq riġlejja; u smajt x'kien qiegħed igħidli. Qalli,
"O bniedem, qiegħed nibagħtek għand ulied Iżrael, ġens
ta' nies rashom iebsa, li rvellaw kontra tiegħi; dinbu kontra tiegħi huma u missirjiethom
sal-lum stess. Huma nies wiċċhom sfiq u qalbhom iebsa. Se nibagħatek għandhom, biex tgħidilhom:
"Dan igħid Sidi l-Mulej."
Jisimgħu u ma jisimgħux – nies ta' ras iebsa huma -- ħa jkunu jafu li hemm profeta f'nofshom." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm
PSALM 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
R. Our eyes are
fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven --
As the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters. R.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us. R.
Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
with the mockery of the arrogant,
with the contempt of the proud. R.
Salm
Responsorjali
Salm 122
R/ Għajnejna lejn il-Mulej, sa ma
jkollu ħniena minna.
Lejk nefa' għajnejja,
int li
tghammar fis-smewwieta
Ara, bħal għajnejn
il-qaddejja
lejn id
sidhom; hekk għajnejna lejn il-Mulej. R/
Bħal għajnejn
il-qaddejja lejn id sidtha;
hekk għajnejna
lejn il-Mulej, Alla tagħna,
sa ma jkollu ħniena
minna. R/
Ħenn għalina,
Mulej, ħenn għalina,
għax mitmugħa
sax-xaba' bit-tagħjir.
Imxebbgħa għall-aħħar
ruħna
bż-żebliħ tal-għonja, bit-tagħjir tal-kburin. R/
Reading 2
2 Corinthians
12:7-10
Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too
elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was
given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said
to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that
the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for
when I am weak, then I am strong.
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni
Qari
mit-Tieni Ittra lill-Korintin 12, 7 -10
Ħuti, biex
ma mmurx nintefaħ bija nnifsi minħabba fil-kobor tar-rivelazzjonijiet, tqegħditli xewka f'ġismi, messaġġiera
tax-Xitan, biex toqgħod tniggiżni ħalli ma nintefaħx. Fuq hekk tliet darbiet tlabt lill-Mulej biex hi titbiegħed
minni. Iżda hu weġibni:
"Biżżejjed għalik il-grazzja tiegħi'
għax il-qawwa tiegħi tidher fl-aqwa tagħha fejn hemm id-dgħajjef." Għalhekk niftaħar minn qalbi l-aktar bid- debbulizzi tiegħi
biex il-qawwa ta' Kristu tgħammar fija.
Mela bil-qalb kollha nitgħaxxaq bid-debbulizzi tiegħi,.
bit-tagħjir, bil-għaks, bil-persekuzzjonijiet, bid-dwejjaq
minħabba Kristu; għax meta
jien dgħajjef, inkun qawwi. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel
Mark 6:1-6
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.
L-Evanġelju
Qari skont San Mark 6, 1-6
F'dak
iż-żmien Ġesu' mar lejn pajjiżu, u
d-dixxipli tiegħu marru miegħu. Meta
wasal is-Sibt, daħal jgħallem fis-sinagoga, u l-ħafna li semgħuh bdew jistagħġbu u jgħidu:
"Mnejn kisbu dan kollu?"
U x'inhu dan il-għerf li ngħatalu
biex saħansitra qegħdin isiru
dawn l-għeġubijiet kbar f'idejħ? Dan mhuwiex
il-mastrudaxxa bin Marija, u ħu Ġakbu u Ġoże, u
Ġuda u
Xmun? U ħutu l-bniet mhumiex hawn magħna?" U huma
skandilizzaw ruħhom minħabba fih.
Qalilhom Ġesu': "Ebda
profeta ma hu bla ġieh jekk mhux
f'pajjiżu u fost qrabatu u f'daru stess."
U hemmhekk ma sata' jagħmel ebda miraklu, ħlief li qiegħed idejh fuq ftit morda u
fejjaqhom; u baqa' mistagħġeb bin-nuqqas ta' fidi tagħhom. U mar
idur l-irħula ta' dawk l-inħawi jgħallem. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
//////////////////////////////
Is Not This the
Carpenter, the Son of Mary?
A reflection by Fr. Thomas
Rosica, CSB
We know Sunday's Gospel story well, perhaps too well! It
would have been customary for Jesus to go to the synagogue each week during the
Sabbath, and when his turn came, to read from the scriptures during the Sabbath
service. His hometown folks listened
ever so attentively to his teaching because they had heard about the miracles
he had performed in other towns. What signs would their hometown boy work on
his own turf?
In this story, Jesus startled his own people with a
seeming rebuke that no prophet of God can receive honour among his own people.
The people of Nazareth took offense at him and refused to listen to what he had
to say. They despised his preaching because he was from the working class: a
carpenter, a mere layman, and they despised him because of his family. Jesus
could do no mighty works in their midst because they were closed and
disbelieving toward him.
If people have come together to hate and to refuse to
understand, then they will see no other point of view than their own, and they
will refuse to love and accept others. Does the story sound familiar to us? How
many times have we found ourselves in similar situations?
Homecoming
We often think that Luke is the only evangelist who
records Jesus' visit to Nazareth, "where he had been brought up" and
that programmatic episode in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:16). Mark and
Matthew also refer to this episode, although without mentioning the name of the
town, calling it simply "his hometown" or "his native place"
(Mark 6:1; Matthew 13:54). There are, however, several differences between the
story told by Luke and those of Mark and Matthew. In the Gospels of Mark and
Matthew, people consider the humble origin of Jesus, who was "the
carpenter" (Mark 6:3), "the son of the carpenter" (Matthew
13:55), and use it to doubt the greatness of his mission. Luke, on the other
hand, makes no mention of Jesus' humble origins.
In Mark, Jesus' visit to his hometown is found not at the
beginning of his ministry but after a long period of preaching the Gospel and
healing, even after the talks on the parables (Mark 4:1-34) and the
resurrection of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-43). In Matthew, Jesus has also
already pronounced his address on mission to the "Twelve Apostles"
(10:2-42).
What was the meaning of the peoples' questions about
Jesus in Mark's account (6:1-6) that forms this Sunday's Gospel? "'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."
"Who do you think you are?" they seem to be
asking him. Jesus sees that the questions about him correspond to a deeply possessive
attitude: Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and therefore, one of us?
You belong to us and therefore you must do for us all that you are able to do.
We own you!
"Prophets are not without honour except in their
hometowns and among their own kin, and even in their own homes." Jesus
resists the possessive attitude manifested by his people. The people of Jesus'
native place were suffering from a particular form of blindness -- a blindness
that sometimes affects us, too. Jesus refuses to place his extraordinary gifts
at the service of his own people, putting strangers first.
Vision and
heart
Sunday's Gospel shows how difficult it is for us to
attain to a universal vision. When we are faced with someone like Jesus,
someone with a generous heart, a wide vision, and a great spirit, our reactions
are very often filled with jealousy, selfishness, and meanness of spirit. His
own people couldn't recognize the holiness of Jesus because they had never
really accepted their own. They couldn't honour his relationship with God
because they had never fully explored their own sense of belonging to the Lord.
They couldn't see the Messiah standing right beside them because he looked too
much like one of them. Until we see ourselves as people beloved of God, miracles
will be scarce and the prophets and messengers who rise among us will struggle
to be heard and accepted for who they truly are.In today's Gospel story, Mark
tells us that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Listening to Jesus, his own
people were initially filled with admiration in him and pride because of him.
His message of liberation was marvelous. Then they recognize this young prophet
as one of them, and they say: "Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary?"
The most severe critics are often people very familiar to
us, a member of our family, a relative, or neighbour we rub shoulders with on a
regular basis. The people of Nazareth refused to renounce their possessive
attitude toward Jesus. When possessive love is obstructed it produces a violent
reaction. This sort of reaction provokes many dramas of jealousy and passion.
They took offence at him in Mark's account just as "everyone in the
synagogue was enraged (Luke 4:28) and they sought to kill him" (4:29) in
Luke's version of the story. Refusal to open our heart can lead to such
extremes.
Jesus was bitterly criticized because he demonstrated
great openness of heart, particularly toward people on the fringes and borders
of society. His openness caused rising opposition that led him to the cross. In
the Acts of the Apostles we read more than once that the success of St. Paul's
preaching to the Gentiles provoked jealousy among some of the Jews, who opposed
the Apostle and stirred up persecution against him (Acts 13:45; 17,5;
22,21-22). Also within the Christian community, we need only recall the
situation in Corinth where similar possessive attitudes caused serious harm
when many believers attached themselves jealously to one apostle or another,
causing conflict and division in the community. Paul had to intervene
forcefully (1 Corinthians 1:10-3:23).
Sunday's Gospel warns us to be on guard against certain
attitudes that are incompatible with the example of Jesus: the human tendency
to be possessive and egoistic and small in mind and heart. We cannot forget
that Jesus is the Saviour of the world (John 4:42) and not of the village,
town, city, or nation!
Magnanimity lets others be free, for the other person
must become great enough to be an image of God's beauty. Magnanimity arouses
the desire in each of us for the other to receive the greatest possible
satisfaction and happiness that rightly belongs to the other! Magnanimity is
capable of looking beyond itself; it can grant the other what oneself perhaps
bitterly lacks and can perhaps even rejoice in the other's goodness, greatness,
and beauty.
Let us pray that Jesus not be amazed at our own unbelief
but rather rejoice in our small, daily acts of fidelity to him and our service
to our sisters and brothers. May the Lord grant us magnanimous hearts so that
we may look far beyond ourselves and recognize the goodness, greatness, and
beauty of other people, instead of being jealous of their gifts. God's power
alone can save us from emptiness and poverty of spirit, from confusion and
error, and from the fear of death and hopelessness. The gospel of salvation is
"great news" for us today.
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