FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B (Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6) Theme: Our Testimony: People may know that there is amidst them a Christian Reflection: The eternal war between God’s love and Man’s rebellion - Today we celebrate the fourteenth Sunday of the Liturgical year. Through the readings of today, the Church reminds us that we are called to give testimony of our faith. We are invited to give testimony so that the people around us know that there is a Christian among them. In other words, we are placed as the prophets and announcers of God’s presence in the world. All the three readings of the day propose this theme to us today. - Even prior to this theme of giving testimony as the prophet in the world, there is some strange element that the word of God makes us remember. It is this: that there is ever continuous battle between God’s immense love for the humanity and man’s ever increasing revolt against God. This battle is not born today. It is there from the beginning of creation of man and his placement before and in the presence of God. The first rebellion and rejection has already started in the Garden of Eden when man wanted to take his post as God. In fact, the sin of the first man has its begin in this revolution against God. Man has fallen aback from the immense love of God rejecting the very nature of “his image and likeness” he is endowed with. - The revolt which began in the Garden of Eden has continued and has reached its peak on the Calvary where man finally killed Jesus Christ, the God-Man, the Word made Flesh, God himself. Man has nailed to the cross the tremendous love of God. But this is only one side of the story and history. This only man’s story. However, there is another side. There is second side of the story. More powerful and most gracious story of salvation. God continues to love man. God continues to be with man. God continues to hold fast to man. God continues to restore man. God continues to elevate man to his original dignity and destiny. - This second story has its profound foundation in the call of Abraham. God wanted to bring man into the relationship of love with himself. Man started going away seeking his own way and thus continuously closing the door of his life. Man began to move towards his own destruction. Man, in his freedom and given autonomous status, started creating his own world where he is the boss and master for himself. He is creating his own sphere where no one else, not even God, but himself be the god. It is at this juncture of man’s getting away from the right path that God himself made the initiation. God himself took the first step to bring man back to life. This first step of God in saving man has its starting point in Abraham. God has chosen a man for himself. God has kept aside his selection. It is with Abraham that God wanted to rebuild his presence of love and life. God’s merciful love has got up from his eternal seat of glory (in heaven) and has set out in search of the man in perdition. - Finally, God’s love has encountered man on the Mount Sinai where God has made a covenant with man. The covenant was considered as the final act in which man entered into divine life. With the establishment of the covenant it was thought that the story of God and man has is final emerge. God promised to man to be faithful and man also promised to be always with God. But the covenant of life has lasted only for a moment. Man has proved again that his nature of rebellion is over the boundaries. He continued to reject God and his word and thus he has broken both the promise and the covenant. The story of God and man has taken another level. The people of Israel, God’s chosen nation, began to search of some other god rather than staying with their God who called them into the bond of love with them. In fact, on the other hand, it is God himself, who often and again, answered the unfaithfulness and rebellion of his people with the faithfulness and love. - Today’s first reading is the best example for it. God calls his people as “rebellious race’. Ezekiel receives the message of God: “I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me” (Ezek 2:3). The message seems to be hard to understand. The words that are found in the message are difficult to comprehend. In the vision God’s message reached to the prophet and we may well notice the words about the condition of the people of Israel: they are a nation of rebels; they transgressed against God; they are imprudent and stubborn. This shows that the life of Israel was, is and will be always like this: a nation that rejects God’s love and his presence amidst them. - In fact, it continued until the time of Jesus. God has come down to visit man and to be with him in the person of Jesus. But the people were not ready to accept him. Above all, his own people did not receive him. John observes it with the intense care in his gospel when he says: “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him” (John 1:11). Not only that they did not accept him, further they rejected him and his presence and his word has become a motive of scandal as it is expressed by Jesus himself in today’s Gospel. Jesus has come to his own home town. He started preaching in the synagogue. His teaching was so impressive that everyone was taken by surprise and wonder. - Let us revise the words of the gospel: “many who heard him were astounded. They said ‘where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is he not this carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and are not his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:2 and 3). We may observe two expressions of the hearers: they are at the same time “wondered” and “offended” (v. 2 and v. 3). First feeling is a wonder (v.2): they accept that his words are tremendous, his wisdom is marvelous and his deeds are powerful. Yet, they are not satisfied with the wonder. There is second feeling: a fear and an offense (v.4). They could not digest the way Jesus, who is one among them, doing marvelous things. One way they really wonder at this work and on the other way they reject him because they could not believe that he can do it. There is already a contradiction in their attitude. They see his work and wonder at it and at the same time they neglect him just because he is like any other among them. - The fact that is noteworthy here is this: the people have become rebellious and stubborn. They hear the good news but they don’t heed them. They see the good works but they don’t comprehend them. At least by his words and works in the villages around they know him to be a prophet but they would not accept him. Finally, what happens is: the Word of God is neglected; the prophet of God is rejected; the presence of God is revolted; and the love of God is nailed to the cross. This is the war between God’s love and man’s arrogant attitude. Summary of the Reading: God is always, however, present in the life of man - Though there appeared terrible words like “rebellion”, “stubborn” and so forth in the first reading, the passage ends with the positive vibration of God’s concern for his people. God says to Ezekiel: “whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them” (Ezek 6:5). God feels hurt when man revolts against him. God feels painful when man, his image and likeness, goes away from him with the rebellious face. Our God is not a God who is not without emotions. He is moved with the human attitude. When man heeds him he joyously and abundantly blesses him. When man rejects his love he feels tremendously hurt. God feels for the man. God moves for the man. Still, our God is a God who is always above the human emotions. He feels when man rejects him but he is not affected very much by this. Feeling is one thing: it is positive and constructive. Being affected is another thing: it is negative and destructive. God is not affected by man’s doing because he knows man and his nature. He knows that man is a failure in using his freedom. He knows that man is in the self-contradiction. He knows the condition of man. - God understands man profoundly. He is not affected by man’s rebellious nature and hard-hearted attitude. It is because His love is above all these human contradictory attitudes. His love surpasses everything. His concern for man is ever present. This love and concern makes him to appear himself in the human form and in the human condition. This love and concern makes him to offer man his presence. His love descends as an answer for man’s redemption and restoration. God’s love for his people is already presupposed and promised in the Old Testament. God sends his prophets among his people so that they have the possibility of returning to him. This is what the first reading presents to us: Ezekiel is called to be the prophet among his chosen people and he has to be amidst them preaching and proclaiming whether they heed to him or not. Whether man accepts or not, God always places his presence amidst his people. - Gospel of today is more focusing on this aspect of God’s love and interest for his people. Jesus is always on the move in proclaiming and demonstrating God’s love in his words and deeds. His preaching, as the prophet and more over as the God’s Son “sent into the world”, is both for the chosen race as well as for all. His travel of proclamation continues day by day and in village by village. We see it clearly in the preceding chapters and also succeeding chapters of the gospel. Jesus, who was always on his mission (gospels of previous Sundays), has come to his home town (today’s gospel) and he sends his disciples one by one into the villages (the gospel that appears in the next Sundays). Even the last verse of the gospel affirms this. When his people have not accepted him and his teaching, Jesus went on his way to the other town always proclaiming (v. 6). - God is always present in the life of man: He is God with us. With the mystery of Christ, his presence has become permanent in the world and with the man. Every time when the word of God is preached what is proclaimed is the presence of God amidst man. Now as far as we are concerned our presence has the task of reminding people around God’s own presence. We represent God’s presence. Those who feel our presence have to feel God’s presence. Therefore, now, in our time, we are the prophets in the world and we are the presence of God’s love in the world. We as the community called the Church: the Church is the prophetic presence of God in the world because it works in the name of God and by the power of the Spirit. Summary: My grace is enough for you! - Second reading is of particular significance today. From the beginning of his creation man is growing and developing: he is growing positively in his freedom and creative and generative capabilities and he is developing negatively the attitude of absoluteness and the desire of being god or above God. All this is because of the pride and arrogance that man received from his disobedience and rejection of God’s love. Paul admits that there is the possibility for the mounting of pride in man. He sees it within himself. He sees it as injected by Satan and his evil deeds (2 Cor 12:7). He sees also the instigation of the Satan as an occasion with which we are reminded of the thorn that pins us all the time. With this pain we become careful and attentive, not to fall into the temptation of rising above. With this pain we remember that we are still weak and not strong as we often misunderstand ourselves. - Weakness also manifests God’s presence and omnipotence. In order to teach man not to grow in pride and arrogance, God himself has assumed the condition of humility and weakness. From the Incarnation to his death on the Cross we can well observe his poverty, his meekness, his obedience and his humility. He never gave even a small chance for growing in pride and arrogance. He always has put in trust in his Father and continued it until perfectly completing His mission with the death and resurrection. Weakness is raised to the level of Omnipotence. Humility is raised to the level of eternal glory. Obedience is raised to the level of ultimate exaltation. - Paul understood well what happened in the humble appearance of Jesus on earth: the pride and arrogance of man is destroyed and manifested as destructive elements. They are no more useful for man. They only throw man into the pit of damnation. They only create disorder and disharmony in the world and among humans. Paul is well aware of this. That is the reason why wants “the thorn of pain” always to be in him so that he is reminded of not growing in pride. His words are very affirmative: I take advantage of my weakness because may the power of Christ remain in me (v. 10). He enjoys when he is weak and powerless. He is joyful even in his failures. He knows well that weakness and powerlessness keep him alert in his rapport and relationship with Christ. He knows that when sin bounds the grace of God abounds doubly. We have to learn from him the right human attitude. His attitude towards God’s love is not that of arrogance but that of joyful acceptance of his human condition and searching for the will of God always. The Church is the prophet in the world and we are the Church: - The Church is the prophet amidst the rebellious and proud man. We have to finally realize our vocation and our Christian mission in the light of the readings. We are called to give testimony of faith whether the world accepts it or not. At least with our testimony the world knows that in its midst there is a prophetic presence of God. And that’s what the Church is tirelessly doing as the part of her mission: it searches and researches the truth of God and proclaims his love to the world. Her preaching and proclamation is not without hurdles and hardships. How many people now criticize the Church and its presence is considered useless in the world. The criticism is from both: from the within and from without: - Church faces the criticism from the outside: The technological and scientific man often treats the Church as out-dated and old-fashioned. The political world tries to eliminate the Church because it sees it as the hindrance for its power as it has done already with Jesus Christ. But this is from outside of the Church and for other institutional powers. They do it because they have to justify and defend their own presence in the world as the Church herself defends her presence. This can be already presupposed because the good is not often accepted by the pride and arrogance. Love is not entirely comprehended by the selfish powers. - Church faces the criticism from the within: the more dangerous and rebellious criticism comes from the within herself. There are critics of the Church within the Church. We ourselves criticize the Church, her teaching and her sacraments as meaningless magic. We treat the hierarchy as the selfish and frightened body. Instead of sowing the seeds of communion and solidarity we attack our Christian neighbor for the motive of jealousy and prejudice. This is what is happening right within the Church, among us. This is more pathetic situation. It reminds us of the first reading. God’s love is rejected by his own people. His Church or his presence is criticized by the chosen members themselves. This is also can be presupposed because the prophet is not completely understood and accepted in his home town. But still, the prophet does not keep quite. He accomplishes what he has to accomplish: his word and his deeds are always present. Each one is called to be a prophet within his limited world: - We have to learn from what is happening. We have to open our eyes to see the truth. We have to open our hearts to embrace the situation as it is without masking it. We have to open our spirit to purify the Church from within and from without: from within with the personal and spiritual conversion and growth and from without with our testimony of faith. It is easy to blame the Church as the whole. But in reality, each one is responsible for the condition of the Church. Each has his/her role to play because each baptized member is called to be “a prophet”, “a witness” and “a true Christian”. - Our testimony manifest the presence of God: we have to remember this truth: as Christian it is no more we who speak and act but it is Christ who does all this in us. Our words have to come out of us as the kind words of Jesus. Our deeds have to come out of us as the loving deeds of Jesus. In a word, whether our neighbors/our community listen or not, comprehend or not, we have to manifest our faith: testimony of kindness and love of God in the world and for the world. Are we ready to take up this mission? Do we believe in ourselves that we can do it because His grace is always with us? Do we carry within ourselves our identity of being a Christian and a prophet in the midst of our people? - Let us remember well: It is for this purpose that we are sent into the world as the prophet Ezekiel. Let us be aware of this; it is for this testimony that we find ourselves as the Christ’s followers. Our testimony is the manifestation of God’s love: all may see that God is present in them and with them.