Homily: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
Friends,
today we hear again this familiar account of Jesus returning home to Nazareth
after he had begun his public ministry, and of how the townspeople reject him
as a teacher/prophet. At the end of this
account, Saint Mark writes that Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith”. Jesus was “amazed” at their lack of
faith. Let’s take a moment to try to
unpack what that means.
First,
let’s remember the definition of faith given to us in the Letter to the
Hebrews: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and evidence of things
unseen.” Okay, so if the people of
Nazareth lacked faith, they lacked surety: but surety of what? Certainly, they lacked surety in what was
unseen in Jesus, namely his divinity.
Perhaps many of them also lacked surety that God would send them a
Messiah and so were skeptical of anyone making overt signs that he might be the
Messiah (especially someone from their small, unimportant town). Either way, their lack of surety of things
unseen is evident by the way that they respond to Jesus: “Who is this guy? Really?!?! The carpenter’s son is going to teach us
something? C’mon. Just look at his disciples. Fishermen and the like.” Their lack of faith is… well… evident.
Perhaps
this isn’t what Jesus experienced growing up in Nazareth. Perhaps he grew up hearing the townspeople
express hope in the promised Messiah and trust that God would send him to
liberate their people and establish God’s kingdom again. Perhaps, therefore, Jesus had great
expectations when, after he had been out teaching and performing miracles and
building up a buzz about who he was, he could return home to his beloved
townspeople. “Finally,” I can imagine
him thinking, “I can finally show them who I am!”
What
he discovers, however, is that their hearts were closed—that they lacked faith,
in spite of what they had professed previously—and so Jesus is “amazed”. And so, what is Jesus’ “amazement”?
Jesus’
amazement could be disgust. It could be
that, upon seen the lack of faith from his townspeople, Jesus thought, “I can’t
believe you people! What is wrong with you?”
Perhaps we might not think this right away, but remember that, in Mark’s
Gospel specifically, Jesus shows a wide range of emotion: showing evident
frustration with his disciples on multiple occasions. In the other Gospels, Jesus is shown to be
more “even-keel”. Mark, however, leaves
open the possibility that Jesus might respond with raw disgust. And so, it’s believable that Jesus’ “amazement”
might be disgust at their lack of faith.
Jesus’
amazement could also be “shocked disappointment”. It could be that his response to their lack
of faith was something like, “Wait. Why
are you rejecting me? This is the
message you said you hoped for. I… I can’t
believe it. I thought I knew you all.” In this case, he was amazed because they had
completely failed to live up to his expectations and so experienced immense
disappointment.
Perhaps
there are many of you who have been amazed in this way at some point in your
life. Maybe you’ve experienced family
and friends who have disappointed you immensely by their lack of faith. Perhaps you’ve experienced those same people
who have rejected you because of your
faith. This, of course, can be
hurtful. People look to their family and
friends to reflect back to them who they are and to feel, therefore, a sense of
validation. If any one of us comes to
them holding beliefs that call into question some core values/truths about themselves
that they hold, they may reject us: not because of who we are, per se, but rather because the faith we
present calls them to question who they believe themselves to be. Thus, they reject us in order to protect
their sense of self.
This,
I think, is what Jesus experienced. The
townspeople of Nazareth rejected him because he challenged them to see him as
more than they had known him to be. In
doing so, they felt challenged to rethink who they knew themselves to be. Unready and unwilling to do that, they
responded with comments that strove to put Jesus “back in his place”: “Isn’t he
just the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother plain old Mary? Aren’t these
regular folks his relatives?” Jesus’ assertion made them uncomfortable; and
instead of walking into the discomfort of belief, they rejected it so that they
could return to their more comfortable understanding. In doing so, they manifested their lack of
faith. Jesus was amazed at this, just as
we are amazed whenever it happens to us. ///
So,
what do we do with this today? I’m going
to suggest that we respond to this by seeking to console the heart of Jesus. So often today Jesus receives the same
response from people that he received from his townspeople in Nazareth that
day: rejection because of their lack of faith.
And because of this, Jesus isn’t able to do great works among the
people. But wait, as the Gospel relates,
there were a few people in Nazareth who Jesus did miracles with, right? These few must have manifested faith in him
in spite of what the other townspeople were saying. These few must have consoled Jesus’
disappointed heart greatly.
Perhaps
today we are being called to manifest faith in Jesus so as to console his heart
for the great lack of faith that he encounters in the world. Jesus’ heart literally aches because it is so
full of merciful love and yet it does not find outlets into which he can pour
it. Our acts of faith in him open us to
be vessels into which Jesus can pour his love, just like those few sick persons
in Nazareth. Jesus doesn’t need this, of course, but it is a great
joy to him when he can do it. As those who
have faith in him, let us make it part of our discipleship this week to do
this.
Perhaps
today, as we come forward to receive him in Holy Communion, we can make this act
of faith in his merciful love and ask that he pour his love that has been
rejected by others into our hearts, thus consoling him and deepening our bond
with him. This is no small thing to do,
and so let us boldly do it! May our
humble thanksgiving today in this Eucharist also console him. Finally, may his merciful love strengthen us
as we as we go forth from here, so that we might courageously give witness to
our faith in our lives.
Given at St. Patrick Parish: Kokomo, IN – July 6th
& 7th, 2024
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