Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Ez 2:2-5

Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4

2 Cor 12:7-10

Mk 6:1-6

It's an old story.  The prophet is not recognized in his own town.  Not only did this happen to prophets in the Old Testament, we see it happening to Jesus in today's Gospel.  The people simply did not believe that this young man was other than a local carpenter, the son of Mary, whose relatives still lived their ordinary lives in that town.  How could he be the worker of miracles whose fame had spread throughout the region?  It isn't surprising to us that Jesus was not able to perform mighty deeds in his home town...  The people lacked FAITH.  They wouldn't listen.

It was the same in Ezekiel's day, as we see in the first reading.  He was sent as prophet to the Israelites whom God described as being rebels and people who often resisted what God intended for them.  Even though they were the "chosen people" and had a covenant with God, they were stubborn.  The people lacked FAITH.  They wouldn't listen.

In Paul, we find someone who DID listen; who DID have FAITH.  In his second letter to the Christians of Corinth, Paul admits that he had received a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble, an affliction or a temptation that caused him much suffering.  He tells the Corinthians that he begged God three times to take this "thorn" away from him and God refused.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness!" is what God told him.  And Paul listened and believed him.  Paul had FAITH that despite the hardships and persecutions that came his way, he would gratefully accept them so that the power of Christ would always dwell in him.

We pray that our faith will be strong enough to withstand the trials and sorrows that come our way in this life.  We hold on to the words that Paul heard:  "My grace is sufficient for you..."  We believe that God will never give us more than we can bear...  that when we are weak, we are made strong... because of our faith in a God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.


 ~ Image by Ben Ma