Ezekiel 2:2-5/ 2 Cor 12: 7-10/ Mark 6:1-6
About a week ago, some of us woke up at about 2am to switch on the TV. I wondered how many of us did that.
Well, there was this European Cup final between Italy and Spain and of course we know that Spain won 4-0.
Seems like Italy was really outplayed and got trashed, despite their reputation of having a rock solid defense.
In a game where there can be any one winner, the Italians would have to creep back home and try to avoid their countrymen who are fanatical over football.
But certainly not so for the Spaniards. They are the winners, they have the Cup to show, they are the heroes, theirs is the glory and victory.
A homecoming like this, as winners, is certainly sweet, with everyone cheering and clapping for them.
Yes, they are the champions of Europe, and with that the money will also roll in.
As the song goes: The winner takes it all, the loser standing small… Actually the loser has nothing to stand on.
Yes, this world does not acknowledge losers, the world only looks at winners.
Especially if you leave your hometown in search of a fortune elsewhere.
Because when you go back home, you better make a name for yourself, as well as a fortune.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth.
He already had a reputation: that He taught with authority and He worked miracles.
With such a reputation, we would expect the people of His hometown to cheer and clap for Him.
Yet they questioned His wisdom and His miracles.
So what is the problem? Or where is the problem? Or who is the problem?
Well, Jesus pointed out the problem. Yes, He made a name for Himself.
But that name is not winner, not hero, or champion.
That name is prophet! And Jesus pointed out a prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations, and in his own house.
Yes, Jesus went back to His hometown as a prophet but He did not bring any profits for the people.
Anyway, prophets and profits do not mix!
So, when the people saw that there was nothing to gain from Jesus, that there was nothing they would benefit from Him, they just rejected Him.
If Jesus had multiplied their food, their crops, their livestock, their wealth, then perhaps they would have welcomed Him.
But in their minds, carpenters are not supposed to preach.
And certainly, Jesus had preached about things that they didn’t want to hear.
Things like faithfulness to God, forgiving enemies, praying for those who wrong them, helping the poor and needy, honesty and humility.
Even we ourselves would not be very excited about hearing those kinds of things.
Yet, these are divine truths, and divine truths are also the truths of life.
Jesus preached to His people those divine truths but He was like a thorn in the flesh for them.
And those truths He taught only increased the pain for them.
So, the most convenient thing to do was to label Him a carpenter and reject Him. Case closed.
Jesus would have certainly felt the pain of their rejection, so much so that He could work no miracle there.
To say that He was amazed by their lack of faith may be an understatement.
The rejection was painful and it was like a thorn in the flesh for Him.
We also heard in the 2nd reading of St Paul complaining about his “thorn in the flesh”.
What was it, we are not told, but like Jesus, St Paul also faced rejection in his ministry.
He even pleaded with the Lord, three times, to remove this “thorn in the flesh”, but he was told:
“My grace is enough for you; my power is at its best in weakness”.
And with that, St Paul continued to face the insults, hardships, persecutions and agonies for the sake of Christ.
In the latest edition of Catholic News, there was an article on the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
It was about his beatification. He is recognized for his heroic Christian virtues.
In fact, he was the forerunner of TV evangelization back in the 1950s and his talks are very inspiring and his books are still widely read.
Yet, there is something we must know about Fulton Sheen. When he was in college, he was told by his college debate coach: You are the worst speaker I ever heard.
That must have been a deep thorn in his flesh and caused him much pain.
How he managed to overcome that pain and rejection, nobody knows but he certainly believed in those words: “My grace is enough for you, my power is at its best in weakness”.
In life, we will be hurt with many painful thorns of rejection and criticism.
Some may think that we are of no use or of no benefit to them.
And then there are the thorns of failure, defeat, humiliation, and also the thorns of pride and sin.
But as St Paul had taught us and this indeed is a divine truth: those thorns in the flesh are to stop us from getting too proud.
Yet at the same time, Jesus tells us: My grace is enough for you, my power is at its best in weakness.
Yes, it is when we are weak that we are strong.
Let us deepen our faith in Jesus, our healer and Saviour.
Even with the thorns in our flesh, we can still be His prophets, powerfully proclaiming the wonders that God works in us.