XIV Sunday Ordinary Time - Year B – July 7, 2024
Roman Rite
Ezek 2,2-5; Ps 122; 2cor 12,7-10; Mk 6,1-6
Ambrosian Rite
8th Sunday after Pentecost
Gs 10,6-15; Ps 19; Rm 8,31b-39; Jn 16,33-17,3
1) Astonishment and scandal.
With the eyes of our mind and heart, let us imagine contemplating the scene of today’s Gospel to amaze us at the sight of the holy face of Christ and at listening to the words of the Word (Christ) of God made flesh.
Let us be surprised by the evocative presence of the Son of God without being scandalized as some of his fellow countrymen were.
Why is the joy of wonder in some people (today, as it was two thousand years ago) replaced by the irritation for the scandal.? What of Christ scandalize us? Is it because what Christ manifests of himself does not correspond to the concept (it would be better to say to the preconception) that we have of him.
It is a paradox that comes from afar. The paradox of a God born from a modest, poor, young woman in a cave. The Redeemer of the world is one who has fishermen as disciples and as friends, who heals the sick and raises the dead. A Master who teaches profound things but announces a non-political liberation and dies nailed to a cross like any thief. It was obviously too much for the Jews of his time. It was, and it is, an important sign but a sign of contradiction.
So it is no wonder that today’s Gospel tells us that the countrymen of Jesus go from astonishment to scandal and say: "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Ioses, Judas and Simon? And his sisters, are they not here with us?" (Mk 6:3).
Hence the scandal, a word that indicates an obstacle to faith, something that prevents us from believing. What prevents the inhabitants of Nazareth from believing is precisely the person of Jesus, whom they think to know because they saw him growing among themselves.
They know his humble origins, his inconspicuous way of being among them. They even saw him playing with their children. It is understandable the difficulty of the inhabitants of Nazareth to recognize in their countryman the Messiah. The presence of God should be brighter, more incisive. How is it possible for a messenger of God to appear as a carpenter?
Rejection can find its reason even in the desire to defend the greatness of God: this is how the inhabitants of Nazareth do. They amaze Christ with their great unbelief, as the Evangelist Mark notes: "And he marveled at their unbelief". For the Gospel, unbelief is not only the denial of God (this is not the case of the people of Nazareth) but the inability to recognize God in the humility of the man Jesus, his call in the voice of a man who seems to be too human. God is certainly great, but it is up to him to choose the ways to manifest his greatness.
2) Surprised by a proposed presence.
Today’s Gospel shows us that the listeners of Jesus go from the initial wonder to scandal. Astonishment is an attitude of departure, the attitude of those who are impressed and therefore forced to question themselves, but it is an attitude that can result both in faith and in unbelief. The wisdom of Jesus' words and the power of his hands raise important questions: what is the origin of this wisdom and of this power? Who is this man?
The obvious answer is that this man is the Son of God. But this obvious answer is prevented by a statement that goes in the opposite direction: "Isn’t he the carpenter?".
Hence the scandal, a word that comes from the Greek and indicates an obstacle to faith, something that prevents us from believing reasonably. What prevents the people of Nazareth from believing is precisely the person of Jesus, his concrete appearance, his humble origins, his humble way of appearing among us. We understand the difficulty of the inhabitants of Nazareth: should not the presence of God be brighter, more important? How is it possible for a messenger of God to appear as a carpenter?
Jesus, the Son of God, is great, but he does not want to impose his greatness. He wants to propose his love. In order not to do violence to our freedom Christ proposes himself with gentleness, because the one "who made you without you, will not save you without you" (Saint Augustine of Hippo).
Unfortunately, his humble origins, his humble way of being with them for thirty years is what prevents the inhabitants of Nazareth from believing. The objection to believe is precisely the person of Jesus, whom they think they know well.
If therefore we want to be true believers who, amazed by Christ and surprised by the joy he brings with and out of love, we must believe that He, in the apparent banality of his person, brings to us a redeeming love. The cross, not only that of Calvary, but that of the banal, normal daily life, is a manifestation of love, and the humble love of Christ is the true power that is revealed precisely in this apparent weakness.
For the Jews, as the Apostle Paul recalls, the Cross is skandalon, that is, a stumbling block: it seems to hinder the faith of the pious Israelite. For them (but often also for many of us) the Cross contradicts the very essence of God, who manifested himself with prodigious signs. Therefore, accepting the cross of Christ means working a deep conversion in the way of relating to God.
For the Greeks, that is the pagans, Saint Paul always teaches that the Cross is moría, foolishness, literally ignorance, a food without salt. Therefore, it is more than a mistake; it is an insult to common sense.
For the former the criterion of judgment to oppose the Cross is a fidelity to the Bible, not well interpreted; for the latter it is fidelity to reason, used not as an open window on the mystery of Love, but as a narrow measure that can neither accept nor measure the infinity of the merciful love of Christ.
In the perspective brought by Christ the omnipotence of God is manifested through the weakness of the humble, who defeats death with the Cross that is no longer the key to the tomb where to remain forever, but the key to open the dramatic door of this tomb and enter the true life that is made of love given and shared.
God is love and love can only be humility. Christ reveals the humility of God by incarnating and dwelling among men as the one who serves. The humility of Christ reveals the love of a God who gives himself totally for man and for his redemption. The Son of God chooses silence for himself, the last place: the cross. He becomes "nothing" so that man may be everything. And this happens again every time Christ makes himself present in the Mass under the species of bread and wine to become food and drink for us.
Christ is humble because it is love that is emptied of itself to give itself, because love is a gift. The Son of God reveals himself to man and makes himself present by giving himself to the point of "getting lost" in each one of us, whom he humbly and infinitely loves. If we can know and understand the humility of Christ in his birth in Betlehem, in his passion and in his death, we can understand, know, and experience him above all in the Eucharist.
In the Eucharist it is the humility of a God who, by loving us, annihilates himself and gives himself to us to be our life, now and for eternity.
3) The consecrated Virgins and humility.
The Son of God / humility is incarnated to be the bridegroom who gives himself entirely to the bride. The divine plan is realized in the covenant. God becomes man to give himself to all humanity, to every man and woman.
An eminent example of a response to Christ the humble bridegroom, is that of the consecrated virgins who give themselves totally and responsibly to him, making their own the teaching of Saint Clare of Assisi who wrote in a letter to Saint Agnes of Prague: "Happy indeed is she who enjoys this sacred wedding, to cling with the depths of her heart [to Christ], to him whose beauty unceasingly admires all the blessed hosts of heaven, whose affection fascinates , whose contemplation restores, whose benevolence satiates, whose sweetness fills, whose remembrance shines gently, at whose perfume the dead will come back to life, and whose glorious vision will make blessed all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. And because he is the splendor of glory, whiteness of eternal light and spotless mirror, look every day at this mirror, queen bride of Jesus Christ, and in it he continually scrutinizes your face so that you may thus adorn yourself all inside and outside... In this mirror, blessed poverty, holy humility and ineffable charity shine forth" (Letter Four: FF, 2901-2903).
The consecrated virgins are called to live the humility of and with Christ accepting the lowering to let themselves be carried by Love. Through humble life they are credible witnesses of Christ to the point of total self-giving, becoming "hosts" who imitate the one pure, spotless and pleasing host to God who is Christ.
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