Homily 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B I Homily 7 July 2024 Year B

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. The first reading taken from the prophet Ezekiel is set at the time of the exile when Nebuchadnezzar forced Jerusalem’s population into exile in Babylonia between 598 and 587 BC. The text describes Ezekiel’s commissioning – a divine call to speak on behalf of Yahweh through which the people were made aware of God’s continuous involvement in Israel’s life. Even when there seemed to be little hope for the Israelites in exile, a prophet was raised up and sent to speak to a stubborn and rebellious people. A rebellion against Yahweh that began almost immediately after they were freed from Egyptian slavery.

However, the issue wasn’t only the sins of their ancestors, but their own sins. Not only were they physical descendants of their rebellious forefathers but also spiritual descendants. They stubbornly resisted following Yahweh and it was that stubbornness that resulted in their exile. However, there was hope as Yahweh had not given up on them. Time and time again we have seen Yahweh being patient with them. Right] from the time they complained on the shore of the Red Sea to when they worshipped the golden calf, God did not abandon them. He now sends a prophet, Ezekiel, to give them His message – a message that would save them if they listen and obey.

While Yahweh sent Ezekiel to these rebellious people, with the hope that they would listen, He also knew that most likely they might not. He therefore prepared Ezekiel for the possible failure of his mission. Ezekiel would be held accountable only for obeying Yahweh and delivering His word faithfully to the Israelites and not for the people’s failure to listen. God had already warned them about the impending Babylonian invasion, yet they were stubborn and this would be the cause of their eventual destruction. ‘Regardless of their response, these people will know that there has been a prophet in their midst.’ This narrative highlights two important messages. First, Yahweh loved the people so much that he tried to lead them back even at the last minute; and second, we are responsible for our own decisions. God cannot force us to obey.

The second reading taken from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians speaks about an intriguing paradox – finding strength in weakness. Paul points out that to ensure he doesn’t develop a spiritual superiority, God gave him a thorn in the flesh. What was this thorn? Well, Paul doesn’t make an explicit mention of it but it does allude to some form of suffering. Suffering is universal. Whenever we face any form of suffering in our life, our first instinct is to pray to God to take it away, but quite often, they’re not taken away. Does that mean that God doesn’t answer our prayers? Or is our suffering meant to serve some higher purpose? There are different ways to interpret the sufferings in our life and St. Paul’s perspective is very beautiful, yet challenging at the same time. For Paul, suffering brings about humility. Our thorns can be certainly painful, and at times even impossible to bear. However, God uses these thorns in our lives to display His power, to sustain us and use us. When we are young all of us think we can be anything and do anything in life. However, as we grow older, we grow in awareness of our limitations. The challenge is to have faith and trust God for the work He’s doing, even when we don’t see it. Therefore, we need to ask God for the strength to endure and trust him to be faithful, for God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for  power is made perfect in weakness.” God doesn’t rescue us from all our weaknesses, but rather wants us to rely on His strength in our weakness. It is when we accept our weaknesses and rely on God’s strength that we are truly strong, for then it is God’s strength working through us, and not our own. Are you strong enough to be weak and weak enough to be strong?

In the gospel taken from Mark, we have the narrative of the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth. Jesus initially had a positive reception, but something changed the minds of the people. Although the exact reason why the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus is unknown, we could venture a guess. It could be possible that just as His family had done earlier, the people in the synagogue too thought that Jesus had gone out of His mind (Mk 3:21). Another possibility is that like the scribes who had attributed His powers to demonic sources (Mk 3:22) these people too thought His words were from the evil one. But most likely the reason for Jesus' rejection was socio-economic. We live in societies where who you are and who you can be is sometimes defined at birth. Though there are always exceptions, generally if one is born poor their life choices are pretty much limited compared to someone born in an affluent family. This narrow mindset is also seen in the words of the people of Nazareth. They identify Jesus as a “carpenter” i.e. a simple manual labourer. Additionally, by addressing him as the “son of Mary” instead of “son of Joseph” which was customary in those times it is also possible that they intended to insult him, implying that He had been born illegitimately. Their familiarity with Jesus keeps them from learning something new about Him, and from him.

Haven’t there been times when we have said or heard these words, “I know him, he is like that only” The question is, do we really know the person? Do we really know their struggles in life? Yet, we are quick to judge and write a person off. Ever imagined what would happen if God were to behave in the same way with us? What would happen if God never gave us a second chance?

Towards the end of the narrative, we read that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Now this unbelief is different from doubt. “Unbelief” is the strong-minded refusal to believe. It is a choice one makes. Jesus did not perform many miracles there because of their refusal to believe Him. We too encounter people who are filled with unbelief. It takes a miracle or a major crisis for them to go from unbelief to belief. Are we also at times filled with this unbelief which stops us from recognizing the workings of God in our life? I pray that each one of us grows in the awareness of our calling in life. We all belong to God and He can accomplish much through us despite our weaknesses if we allow our unbelief to be transformed into faith. May God bless us all.