Fr. Chuck's Blog

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time    Cycle B     St Paul the Apostle, Horseshoe Bay

Our readings this weekend are not happy readings.

          In our first reading the Prophet Ezekiel is told rather bluntly by The Lord, “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. “

          Hmmm, doesn’t that sound like fun?

          Then in our second reading, from St. Paul to the Corinthians we hear: “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;”

          More fun!

          And then we have today’s Gospel.  Jesus goes to his native place.  But instead of being welcomed home, and treated like a hero, like a local lad who did well, Jesus is met with suspicion, envy, resistance and rejection.  They took offense at him.   “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.”

          This is Good News? 

          Brothers and sisters, the readings today remind us that following and doing the Will of God is not easy.  There will be disappointments, hardships, rejection and opposition. 

          You do your best to raise your children Catholic.  Send them to Catholic grade and even high school. Take (sometimes drag) them to church every Sunday.  You pray at home, you try to provide good example, you encourage them in every way you can in the Faith, but once on their own they have nothing to do with church.  They aren’t hostile, it just doesn’t do anything for them.  You are disappointed.  Something very valuable to you, your faith, you have striven to share with them, and they have no interest in it at all. 

          Hardships, like keeping to yourself that juicy bit of gossip you found out about .  You would be the center of attention in your social set if you blabbed what you had learned.  But another person’s reputation would be damaged.  So you struggle to squelch the temptation to blurt it out.  You experience hardship.

          Rejection.  If you are not willing to go along with the rest of the crowd making racist, sexist, homophobic jokes, you will start to stand out.  You may be seen as kind of dull and uninteresting. You may loose friends.  You experience rejection.

          Opposition.  If you stand up for respecting the rights of immigrants and refugees, for respect for human life from the moment of conception till natural death, against bellicose policies that threaten war and violence instead of mutual agreements and peace, in these and many other ways you will experience opposition. 

          Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not for sissies.  The readings today, and our own experience, tells us it can be difficult.  It can be tough.

          So why do it?  Why follow the way of Jesus Christ?  Because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Only in His way do we truly find the Love of God, and the ultimate happiness of our souls.

          St. Paul dramatically cries:  “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. “

          Can you, like St Paul, boast of your weaknesses?  Can you accept that following Jesus is not easy, that you cannot do it on your own, and open yourself to the power of Christ dwelling in you?  …

          For myself, I can do this, maybe some times, for a short while.

This is a life’s work:  Something we need to keep working at, struggling with, striving to do more and better. 

          The readings today tell us: Hang in there.  Don’t give up.  Open yourself so that the power of Christ, which in the eyes of the world looks like weakness, may dwell with you.  God bless!