Deacon Tom Anthony

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 101

Reading I

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me
   and set me on my feet,
   and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:
   Son of man, 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.
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD!
And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—
   they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Responsorial Psalm

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

R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
To you I lift up my eyes
   who are enthroned in heaven —
As the eyes of servants
   are on the hands of their masters.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
As the eyes of a maid
   are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
   till he have pity on us.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
   for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
   with the mockery of the arrogant,
   with the contempt of the proud.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

Reading II

2 Cor 12:7-10

Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
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;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Alleluia

Cf. Lk 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 6:1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
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.

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

Wherever God is there will be resistance. Wherever the Word of God is preached and practiced there will be those who reject what is being said and taught. Those of us who have embraced The Christian Way will always face judgment, resentment, ridicule, and outright hostility. This has always been the way since the Great Fall all the way up to the current day. We are reminded in the Scripture Readings today that this should be expected and embraced just as we are encouraged to embrace The Crucified Christ. This is a part of our journey and is an intricate part of our lives just as it was for the prophets, disciples, and Jesus Christ himself. Society is naturally hostile to anything that has its foundation built upon God because society is not of God but is the dwelling place of Satan and that which is evil in the world. Following Christ means that we have set ourselves against that which is not from God and have instead embraced all things that come directly from God; thus we will always face conflict. There is cause for rejoicing here because when we are persecuted we have the opportunity to unite ourselves more closely to Jesus Christ because He suffered for us and now we have the opportunity to suffer for Him.

Part of being slaves of Jesus Christ and followers of The Way is preparing ourselves for the many hardships that we will encounter. It is ironic that we have already faced hardships by not following Jesus Christ and by not entering into a relationship with Him. Now we are being told that we will face even more challenges by embracing Him. The persecutions that we have and will be facing with Jesus Christ are different than the ones we have faced in the past. When we were not with Jesus Christ the bad things that we experienced were because of the evil that we welcomed and the poison of sin that we let seep into our innermost being. We danced with the devil and his disease infected our minds, bodies, and souls. We were against Jesus and caused ourselves to suffer many wounds by rejecting the good and choosing the evil. Making the choice to accept Jesus into our hearts and to walk in the light has transformed us into a new creation. We have been changed for the better and have experienced revelation. That which we had welcomed in the past has now been rejected by us. Much like a jilted lover that which is evil has now rallied against us. When we are persecuted by those same forces which we once befriended we can truly affirm that we are in a battle between good and evil. This time we are on the right side. Choosing God above evil is only the beginning; a new journey has begun. We are now on the winning side and on the side of righteousness. This makes the losers very angry. This makes those who seek to reject God and lift up godlessness above all things furious.

The Apostle Paul struggled with this. He was a witness to divine revelation. He was converted by Jesus Christ Himself and taken up out of body to a heavenly vision. Even being awash in so many spiritual gifts could not prevent him from suffering at the hands of other peoples and at the hands of evil. At times he was frustrated, beaten down, depressed, and doubted. When he asked for strength Jesus responded by telling him that, ““My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.” These are truly words to live by. It is through our perceived weaknesses that our true strength is reveal for we are guided by Jesus Christ and His love for us should indeed be sufficient to carry us through anything. We should focus on how much Jesus Christ loves us. When we do that then everything else will naturally fall into place. All answers will be revealed and everything that we need will be provided to us. Jesus reminds us of this in The Sermon on the Mount.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you.”

Wow! What powerful words are those if only we can trust in them! Our God and our savior insures us that whatever we need will be provided to us if only we let Him. They are worth repeating over and over again. The evil forces which are allied against us try day after day to refute these promises with a resounding ,“NO!” If we are now against that which is not from God then why are we still tempted to listen to those voices that seek to destroy us? Jesus faced these forces when He went back to Nazareth. The Gospel Reading today says that He was “Amazed at their lack of faith.” They were devout Jews and good people yet they could not comprehend the Jesus they thought they knew to the one before them now. The same thing will happen to us. We will be rejected by many who thought they knew us but cannot reconcile the sinner they thought they knew to the new creation before them. Ultimately Jesus will give us the strength to overcome these disappointments that we will encounter. He will give us all the tools necessary to combat every attack and every judgment that is hurled against us. No human court or institution can stand up to what God wants. He wants us just as we are. He will then do the work necessary to build us up into the person He always wanted us to be. It is not up to us. He is the potter and we are the clay.

Whatever we expect to face or will in our spiritual journey will only make us stronger if we keep our focus on The Love of God. This is our most powerful weapon and our greatest asset. Our God loves us completely. With that love comes so many spiritual gifts that will always benefit us in good times and in bad times. We are truly blessed. It is up to us to realize this love and live with it every moment of our lives. It makes all the difference when we realize we are loved and have the capability to love with abandon. Whatever comes after this realization, good or bad, has the capability of accentuating this understanding.

Saturday, July 3, 2021