Sunday, July 8, 2012
Reading 1 Ez 2:2-5
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.'”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
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. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
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. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
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. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Reading 2 2 Cor 12:7-10
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.
Gospel Mk 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.
(When Jesus spoke in the synagogue, many who heard Him were astonished, and wondered where He, their own neighbor, received such abilities. They knew His family. His cousins were there. They concluded that He was no better than they were. After that, they took offense at Him, angry, jealous,and envious of His abilities and unwilling to admit that He was so much more than they.
When Jesus explained “A prophet is not without honor except in his home, among his own kin and in his own house” He was explaining why the Jews rejected Jesus. They couldn’t stand to see how much better He, “just another Jew”, was greater than they. Their vanity kept them from truth. Similarly, in the First Reading, Ezekiel was ignored by the Ten Northern Tribes. God knew that many would see those He sent and ignore their teaching. He just wanted both them, and the Tribe of Judah, to know they had seen His Truth. God makes it clear that it was their decision to reject that Truth.)
