First Reading: Ezk 2:2-5; Psalm: 123. R. v. 2; Second Reading: 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gospel: Mk 6:1-6   

THE GOD WE LEARN EVERYDAY

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP    

The rejection of Jesus in Nazareth in the gospel of today should not be surprising. If we wish to understand why, then the commentary of Francois Mauriac becomes very handy. Francois Mauriac wrote in his life of Jesus: “It is baffling to record that, for a period of thirty years, the Son of Man did not appear to be anything other than a man. Those who lived with him thought they knew him. He fixed their tables and chairs. They ate and drank with his extended family. When he stepped outside the role they had fixed for him, they put him down as just a workman.”

It seems that one of the key issues in the gospel of today is the problem of concealment. Thirty years is enough to know the potentials and ability of anyone. Apparently, Jesus did not make public to his people any of his extraordinary divine attributes until he was thirty as he began his ministry. If you have been married for thirty years and suddenly see your spouse act or speak in an extraordinary way different from what you’ve known for the past three decades; suspicion or doubt should be a ready feeling especially when there are no overt potential indicators heralding these new realities. We may want to ask: “Who really are you?”

The people of Nazareth identified a couple of links upon which their knowledge of Jesus is wrapped around: his carpentry skills, his parent and siblings. If there were more that they knew of, they would probably have mentioned them. But the qualities they saw Jesus exhibit, was for them just out of the blue. Jesus neither attended any special school nor was he tutored by any rabbi. So, they could not wrap their heads around this new identity of Jesus that suddenly popped up. And so they disregarded Jesus. Should they be blamed? Yes! Because sometimes we fall into the error of thinking that our repertoire of knowledge is sufficient to analyze and understand people. And unfortunately, we sometimes think so of God.

Our knowledge of God is limited yet some would claim they know what God can do. But our little knowledge of God does not in totality define who God is or limit what God is capable of doing. One certain knowledge of God is that God is incapable of evil because the nature of God is goodness. But as to what God can do, we know very little and that is why God will keep surprising us. Yes, Jesus came to reveal his Father to us. But we must be wary of thinking that the scripture is exhaustive of who God is. God cannot be summarised in the compilation of the Holy Bible. If this is possible, then God is not God.

From the public ministry of Jesus, we learn that God answers those who come to him in faith. But we know this is not always the case. But does that mean that the scripture is a lie? No. This shows that God could also choose to act otherwise for reasons best known to him. Scripture says that the just man is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its seasons; while the wicked are like chaff blown away by the wind (Ps 1:3,4). But sometimes we see those with obvious callous attitude prosper and even protected while those who make effort to be just suffer. This also does not mean that the scripture lies but it reveals there is still more to learn about God who is not without will and intellect.

What happened in Nazareth in our gospel of today should be an eye opener for us to rethink our knowledge of God and to trust in his divine volition. God is comprehensible but inexhaustible. We should not presume that we completely understand the anatomy of God’s operation. Because sometimes we can even get confused on how God acts and what he permits. But what God expects of us in moments like this is to trust in him even when certain outcome defies our expectations. He is still God. So, if we claim we know God, then we must be open to endless surprises because they will keep coming.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, increase our faith and grant us the grace to remain open to your divine volition. Amen