THE GREAT REJECTION.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B.
July 5, 2009.
(First reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5) (Psalm 123: 1-4)
(Second reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) (Gospel: Mark 6:1-6)


THE GREAT REJECTION.

To reject a human being is tantamount of rejecting the highest dignity in the universe. One way of rejecting a human being is by denying his human dignity.

The gospel tells us that the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus not so much because he was God but because he was human. "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Mark 6:3) - they contended. "What good can come from someone we know?" - they stressed; even though they had seen his miraculous works.

In the minds of those who reject human nature, a human being is good only to be exploited, (or to be destroyed if he does not submit to exploitation).

Jesus comes in the form of a human being precisely to exalt the dignity of the human person, to demonstrate that a human being can redeem his dignity through works of peace, justice, compassion and healing.

Like Jesus, the advocates for peace, justice, compassion, righteousness find themselves living in the midst of a "hardened people".
The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel says: "Son of man, I am sending you [to a people] hard of face and obstinate of heart" (Ez. 2:3-4).

The "hardened people" of our times are those who refuse to believe in human dignity. The "obstinate of heart" are those intent of exploiting human beings.

Let us welcome Jesus into our world by recognizing the supreme value of each human being, the unborn, the oppressed, the weak, because Jesus himself became a human being in order to stop the rejection of human dignity.