WHO
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B.
July 9, 2006.
(First reading: Ezekiel 2:2-5) (Psalm 123: 1-4)
(Second reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) (Gospel: Mark 6:1-6)
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Who do you think you are? seem to be saying the people of Nazareth to
their compatriot, Jesus.
Who do you think you are? seem to be saying the people of our world
to their fellow human beings who bring truth, goodness, healing, peace,
compassion and justice to humanity.
Just as the people of Jesus' own town were incapable of accepting that
anything good could come from Him, so it is with the people in our world
who are incapable of accepting that people of truth, peace, justice,
compassion are the only ones who can bring healing and liberation to
our ailing and suffering world.
Jesus comes to us in the form
of a human being precisely to exalt the dignity of the human person.
The rejection(1) by His compatriots was inevitable.
Their assertion was: Nothing good can come out of a human being, especially
out of someone whose family we know so well, no matter how great his
deeds are, no matter how truthful his words are.
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 (First reading) 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 the powerful individuals or groups who pursue global
domination by force (military, economic or of any other kind) and lies.
The "obstinate of heart"
are those who submit to such force or believe in the lies of the tyrants.
However, just as the prophet shall prevail, so will human dignity: "thus
says the Lord God... Whether they heed or resist... they shall know
that a prophet has been among them" (Ez. 2:5).
Just as the miraculous deeds of Jesus were overlooked, disregarded,
objected to by His country men, so will the deeds of those who pursue
peace, unity, equality, justice, compassion be rejected by the bloodthirsty,
powerful oppressors of the world, by those who "fill
humanity with contempt ... with the scorn of the rich, with the proud
man's disdain" (Ps. 123:4).
In a world where people have
hardened their hearts and minds, the gospel says: The
Lord Jesus "was not able to perform any mighty deeds... He
was amazed at their lack of faith" (Mk 6:5-6).
Today is a time to welcome our
Lord Jesus Christ into our world (his world) by recognizing
the supreme value of each human being, the unborn, the oppressed, the
destitute, because Jesus himself became a human being in order to liberate
us all.
Today is a time to keep "our eyes fixed
on the Lord our God till He show us His mercy" (Ps.
123:3).
Today is the time to say to Jesus: Lord
we know who you are, make us recipients of your mighty
deeds, of your healing, make us recipients of your salvation.
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Footnotes:
(1) Since God and man have become one
in Jesus, those who reject Jesus, reject both God and man.
Therefore, rejecting a human being is as grave as rejecting God.
To reject a human beings is to reject his very nature, the nature of
being a child of God.
Just as it is true that anyone who says that he loves God but does not
love his fellow human beings is a liar, so it is also true that he who
says that he does not reject God but rejects his fellow human beings
is a liar.
