Gospel: Mark
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 Joseph 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.
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Reflection:
What is
the feeling of a person who will be going back to the place where he spent
almost thirty years of his life? Of course it’s a mix feeling of excitement and
anticipation. This must have been the feeling of Jesus while He was on His way
to Nazareth—His native place.
Unfortunately
He got a rude welcome from His town mates, He was mocked some even took offense
at Him. Perhaps they were envious of Jesus sudden fame with the masses; perhaps
they could not accept that Jesus had become an eloquent and charismatic speaker
and a healer. Perhaps they have a crab mentality mindset already.
As a
consequence of their unbelieving attitude Jesus did not make any spectacular
healings there for He was amazed at their lack of faith. Lack of faith in God
could cost us a lot; for example because our faith in God is lacking. We would now
trust more on ourselves more than we trust God.
And when
we encounter trials we would easily resort to doing other things such
as friendship that do no good to us. His townsfolk lack of faith invites us
also to examine our own faith in Jesus. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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