Jesus, Help Us Not To Shy Away From Being Rejected. . .
(By Fr. Dexter Brereton)
Grant me the grace to still be all that You call me to be – in spite of rejection
[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”1616368101″ locale=”us” height=”375″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tM-X-CXML.jpg” width=”249″]This reading is particularly interesting in view of the fact that it makes mention of Jesus’ “brothers” and “sisters.” A Catholic reading of this bible story however would reveal the fact that this language tells us little about Jesus’ biological family. Also, it does not directly undermine the Church’s teaching about Mary’s perpetual virginity. This is so since the words “brothers” and “sisters” in ancient Semitic cultures could designate stepbrothers, stepsisters, or cousins as well as blood brothers and sisters. Mark’s central concern however is the fact that Jesus, God’s prophet, finds himself rejected by people closely related to him.
A few years ago, my High school class held its 30th anniversary reunion. On this occasion many of us ‘regressed’ back to our youth as we remembered our teenage years and the fun and mischief that we had at College. What was particularly touching for me however was the fact that for the most part, people were respectfully referred to by their proper names “Darryl”, “John,” “Peter” etc and not by any of our high school nicknames such as “porky” or “fats” or “chinee” etc. This was remarkable for me since in Trinidadian culture, much as in this story here, there is sometimes a tendency to belittle others because of the fact that we “know” them, especially if we knew them when they were very young, or we knew them during a time they were broke, or abandoned or experiencing difficulty in school or on the job.
While we consider Jesus to be the model human being, it is still true to say that familiarity breeds contempt and as a result of this “familiarity”, Jesus’ ministry experiences spectacular failure in his own hometown! We may reflect on this story of rejection by walking in the footsteps of Jesus, walking in the footsteps of the townsfolk or reading the story as a kind of ‘conversation’ or even ‘confrontation’ between different parts of ourselves. At one time or the other, we have all returned to our home town where people were astonished when they heard us. They asked ‘where did this man (woman) get all this?’ ‘This is the carpenter surely!’; in other words: “who does she think she is?” (In Trinidadian English we would say ‘who he feel he playin’?) And they would not accept us. Your biological family rejects your professional advice because you are the youngest of the siblings, a grandparent rejects your offer of help with a plot of land because in their eyes you are still a child. Or, on the other side, perhaps you are the kind of person who does not believe in the advice of ‘local’ experts or ‘local’ priests whom you judge of inferior quality compared with the foreign variety.
We can also read this story as a drama occurring between different parts of ourselves. In this case the “people”, the voices of negativity reside deep inside us. So you come to a decision for example to begin an exercise programme, and the voices say to you: “Why don’t you behave yourself?” “Since when are you an athlete?” “Isn’t this the couch potato talking?” “Isn’t this the lazybones?” And they would not accept this ‘new’ you. Or maybe you decide to leave a harmful relationship and the voices again come at you: “What are you trying to pull?” “People do not change!” “Isn’t this the ‘needy man/woman’ talking?” And the people of your inner home town would not accept that you wish to make this life giving change. The reading teaches us however, that even there in our hometown, there are still a few people who are open to us. Sometimes in life we arrive at a situation where we humbly have to accept that the most we can hope for is to be able to “cure a few sick people by laying our hands on them.”
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for this beautiful reading which shows us that even Jesus himself experienced the sting of rejection. Like us he found himself from time to time among the people of his own home town who would not accept him and among whom he could work no miracles though he cured a few sick people by laying hands on them. We pray then for all those local activists who, having done well abroad have come home to change things only to experience rejection and misunderstanding at the hands of their own fellow citizens. We pray with young people who wish to take their families in a new direction or perhaps a new business and are rejected because they are too young. Give us the same strength like Jesus to be able to head home from time to time anyway even if it means that we risk rejection. Amen.
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 Joset 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.
