Homily for the week of July 5, 2009

14th Sunday, 2009

First Reading: Ezekiel 2:2–5

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123:1–2, 2, 3–4

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7–10

Gospel: Mark 6:1–6

We come to church this weekend mindful that it is the Fourth o

July weekend, the birthday of our country. As we gather eating our hamburgers and hot dogs we probably don't talk much about the fact that we are the largest Christian nation in the world, or about how well we Christians live our faith. And we probably don't begin our picnic with the Pledge of Allegiance as our prayer written for children in 1892 by a Baptist minister. Many in our country at that time opposed equality for women and blacks, and many persons were immigrants. They were rejected as true Americans.

Jesus had the same experience. The townspeople of Nazareth rejected their native son. Nazareth was very small during Jesus' life, maybe 300 people. In such a small setting everyone would have known Jesus and His parents. He has just finished making one of his first public speeches in the synagogue. While they are arguing about him, Jesus stands up, lays his hands on a few sick folks and leaves the square. The sick get better. But Jesus feels rejected.

Here was a man teaching in the synagogue in his home town, a man whose voice and face were familiar to the people. He was the carpenter, the son of a woman they knew, a member of a local family. Bu Jesus' listeners did not think that he was sufficiently educated to speak with such learning and authority. At first the people gave a half-hearted recognition of someone special. Perhaps they did not want someone they knew to be better than themselves. In a sense Jesus was being rejected by those who should have known him best. It is as if Jesus was being thrown away or tossed aside. In our first reading we found the same thing happening to Ezekiel; and such was Paul's problem.

The more they got to know Jesus, the more they were confused about him. Because we know a person well does not prevent us from making wrong judgments about that person. Here are some examples from history:

The teachers of Albert Einstein described him as mentally slow because he could not speak until he was four and could not read until he was nine.

A football expert once said that Vince Lombardi possessed very little football knowledge.

When F.W. Woolworth tried to get a job at a dry goods store, the store owner would not hire him because he did not have the intelligence to wait on customers.

Thomas Edison's teachers told his parents to keep him home because he was too stupid to learn anything.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper because the editor thought he was lacking in creative talents.

ON THIS JULY 4TH WEEKEND WHICH IS KNOWN AS INDEPENDENCE DAY, WE AMERICANS CELEBRATE A GROUP OF PERSONS IN 1776 WHO ADOPTED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE DECLARING THE 13 COLONIES FREE AND INDEPENDENT OF ENGLAND. YET THESE PERSONS WERE IN FACT REBELS WHO REBELLED AGAINST A GOVERNMENT WHICH THEY CONSIDERED AS UNJUST.

Each of us in one way or another may have had similar judgments made of us. If these comments can be made in our time then it must not surprise us that they can be made of Jesus, or of St. Paul or of Ezekiel. Each of our readings challenges our desire to label and limit what a person can or cannot do.

Growing, changing, becoming new again are all very frightening, but Ezekiel had to eat the scroll and we too eat God’s word and share his life’s grace in the Eucharist. Jesus did not argue or defend, or reject his neighbors; he continued being who he was and doing what he had come to do. The questionings of others did not move him to question himself, but he remained a question mark in the minds of those who thought they knew the answers. Jesus left his watchers and listeners scratching their heads by what he taught and what and how he did.

Today each of us in our own way is challenged to live up to what we believe. We are called by Jesus to be and to live as Catholic Christians. Those of us who try to do what God wishes us to do may feel like strangers, or may even feel we do not fit in, or even at times may not be welcomed. We may feel rejected or not welcomed.

And that is why we are have some time out of this weekend to come to church, to pray and to receive Holy Communion. We are here because we believe that the Jesus of the little town of Nazareth can o for us what he did for his own town. Today and this week as you make the sign of the Cross, remind yourself that Jesus is blessing you and healing the part of you that needs healing just as he did at Nazareth. On your part do all you can to promote the work of Jesus, sharing His love, opening yourself to the power of Jesus. And with Jesus and our founding fathers and mothers, let us pledge to bring liberty and justice to all.